Editor’s Note: This article was written in September. The issue has since been resolved, and all is well. Additionally, as described in the last post, Here We Go Again, Dr. Pfeiffer did experience an exposure to COVID via his wife. That too has been resolved, and more details will follow in the next post, which is scheduled for January 8, 2022.
Don't be discouraged if you find the public health messaging about COVID-19 difficult to understand. I've been having the same problem. Back when the masking instructions kept changing – no masks were necessary, then masks were encouraged, and eventually masks were mandated – I attempted to find research studies referencing the efficacy of masks. There was very little published research about masks in relationship to the virus. Eventually the "experts" said that two were better than one. Meanwhile, I found that the N-95 mask was one of the only masks with any data on pore size, and it actually had pores larger than the size of the virus.
I then listened to a webinar on JAMA On-Line in which a virologist spoke about the virus and the pandemic. What caught my ear in this program was that the doctor stated that in his expert opinion the only way that we were to reach “herd immunity” was for the population to be vaccinated. This statement flew in the face of everything that I had learned in both my undergraduate as well as my graduate education. And now some researchers are determining that “natural immunity”, -- meaning that you have had a COVID-19 infection and survived (as most do) -- is equal to or longer lasting immunity (which I tend to believe) to a subsequent exposure to the “novel coronavirus” when compared to the “vaccine.”
Notice my quotes around the word “vaccine” when referring to the “COVID-19 vaccine.” If you look at the classic definition of a vaccine it is “any preparation used as a preventive inoculation to confer immunity against a specific disease, usually employing an innocuous form of the disease agent, as killed or weakened bacteria or viruses, to stimulate antibody production.” This “vaccine” does not employ a killed or attenuated virus. It uses part of the genetic material from the spike protein of this “novel” virus to stimulate antibody production. Therefore, this shot does not prevent anything. At best it may reduce the symptoms when you are infected.
Making Sense Through Data Analysis: Blood Type
As an anecdote to the confusion, I continue to look at the data for guidance. And the data seems to indicate that some individuals are more susceptible to the effect of the virus than others. Why are some individuals affected more so with this severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS-Co-V2, or what we commonly refer to as Covid-19 than others? Could your blood type be a predisposing factor? It appears that this is in fact the case.
One study performed at Columbia University indicates that if you have type O blood you have a much lower incidence of contracting a severe infection. They also found that, if you have type A blood, you are more predisposed to having the infection and that it will be more severe.
Further research on this topic was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which determined that there was a link between the gene for blood type and a gene which regulates immune function. This study helps to explain the reason why your blood type will predispose or protect you from a severe infection.
Making Sense Through Personal Observation
I have type O blood. Although my family, staff, and I have taken many precautions over the last 1.8 years since the “novel coronavirus” first made the front pages, I am still exposed to many folks every day. I have felt safe and secure with the precautions that we have taken over that timeframe. Sadly, some of our patients have contracted the virus. Thankfully, everyone has been good about letting us know iof any concerns before their scheduled appointment so that we could avoid having them come into the office and encourage them to take appropriate actions. With that being said I have not, nor has anyone in my immediate family had symptoms of or been diagnosed with COVID-19. [See Editor's Note at beginning].
However, back in September 2021, I was scheduled to go to the mountains. I was planning to stop in and see my brother and sister-in-law. On our way I called to set up the details for our visit. My brother was coughing over the phone and said that he didn’t feel well and had a fever. Obviously, our visit was cancelled. And unfortunately, his symptoms worsened. As I monitored his condition over the next several days in phone conversations with both my brother and his wife, it became apparent to me that his condition was worsening. By Wednesday his condition had worsened to the point that I told him that he must go to the E.R., which he did. As I write this article, he is being released from the hospital one and a half weeks later. He didn’t have any significant comorbidities. In fact, one of his treating doctors said she thought that he was 10 years younger than his actual age. However, perhaps, he did have one predisposing factor: he had type B blood.
Did this cause a predisposition to him getting the infection or having a worse case? Perhaps it could have, only time and further research will tell. He is on the mend at this point however, and that is all that matters.
But there is another part to this story that I would like to share with you in my next article. I will continue in my next installment to this article with the rest of the story about my personal experience.
Until then let’s work hard to separate the fact from the fiction in the “science” that we hear and read about. I will continue my quest to ferret out the truth.
I promise you!