Believes Danish infection theory gives hope
In the last 24 hours alone, almost 13,000 Danes were confirmed infected. In recent weeks, Denmark has registered 4211 infections per 100,000 inhabitants, which is among the highest infection pressures in the world.
But the sharp increase in infection is not exclusively negative, according to one of Denmark’s foremost infection control experts.
She believes that if as many Danes as possible are infected in combination with vaccination, then the inhabitants will achieve hyperimmunity, which provides robust protection against omicrons and future variants.
– We believe that this is over during the spring, and that this was the last Christmas, which was affected by the pandemic. In the future, we will live with winter epidemics of the virus which must be controlled in the same way as we handle seasonal flu, Lone Simonsen told TV 2 on Thursday.
Norwegian researchers, however, argue that the combination of micronutrient infection and vaccination is the beginning of the end of the pandemic.
A hake
– It sounds so easy, but my experience indicates that what seems to be simple, has a hake. And there is a risk element to this, says Ørjan Olsvik, who is a professor of medical microbiology.
He aims that even though omicron gives a milder course of the disease, the variant will continue to pose a risk to the unvaccinated, the elderly and people with underlying diseases.
– Since there are still some who will not tolerate omikron, I do not think it is ethically justifiable as a strategy if we were to release the infection to achieve better protection, he says.
Olsvik the Norwegian pandemic management where the infection is slowed down with measures to prevent the health service from being overloaded.
– It is right with a gradual and careful opening, where we have the capacity to care for the sick. We still lack some knowledge that omicron is less pathogenic, although more and more point in that direction.
Olsvik points out that Norway already has up to 8,000 registered daily.
– It is 80,000 in ten days, and among them will be people who get sick. If we reach 20,000 infected every day and one percent become seriously ill, the capacity speaks to the hospitals.
According to FHI’s weekly report, it is prior to getting hospitalized with omikron in Norwegian hospitals. They track a significant increase in the epidemic going forward.
Although Olsvik rejects hyperimmunity by many being infected as a strategy, he thinks it is interesting if it is something we achieve over time – but he is not convinced.
A step in the right direction
Vaccine researcher Gunnveig Grødeland agrees that omikron is good news for the development of the pandemic, but she has said that it presupposes good vaccine coverage in the population.
She also points out that the unvaccinated can become seriously ill, although omicron gives a milder course of the disease to most people.
– So even though serious illness is rare, it is enough that we should be vigilant and make sure that the health service can handle this, she says.
However, she completely agrees that infection in combination with vaccination provides better protection.
– Vaccination followed by infection gives a greater breadth in the immune response. Therefore, it is possible to expect that the combination provides better protection against variants in the future, says the vaccine researcher.
– Is it something that speaks that omikron’s properties in combination with hyperimmunity started on the way out of the pandemic?
– There is more that speaks for even against. It spreads more easily and causes milder diseases, so it is quite clear and written in the right direction, says Grødeland.
Believe in hyperprotection
Unlike Grødeland, assistant health director Espen Rostrup Nakstad is not as sure that infection and vaccine provide better protection.
– It is not safe to review the disease now provides more lasting protection and vaccination, although one may get a broader immunity. The consideration that the health care system should not be overloaded is important regardless, and it is affected by how many people are infected at the same time, he told TV 2.
Ørjan Olsvik is also not convinced.
– I think it’s interesting and it’s possible. At the same time, there is no scientific basis for the site. Until we can put two lines under the answers about omikron, I think we must take into account the weakest.
– The consequences will be reduced
– In light of how good protection infection and vaccination can provide, can it be positive that we get a wave of infection now?
– For vaccinated, infection will further improve the immune response so that it is a better basis for protection against different variants. It improves our basic protection against what may come in the future, says Grødeland.
At the same time, she wishes she would definitely not recommend anyone to seek out infection.
– Even what we call mild diseases can be very unpleasant, says Grødeland.
In Denmark, significant pressure has been put on the hospitals. As the infection increases, they also expect more posts in the coming weeks, the Danish Health and Medicines Authority writes in one press release.
The head of the Danish Statens Serum Institutt, Tyra Grove Krause, said earlier in January that she expects this month to be tough, but that Denmark will be done with the pandemic in months.
Neither Olsvik nor Grødeland will set a date for when she thinks the pandemic is over.
Grødeland is aware that the pandemic is defined by the fact that it is transmitted internationally, and it is probably some time before the pandemic can be finally declared over.
– But the consequence of the pandemic for good vaccination in Norway, will be able to reduce the strength in a short time, she says.