Siberia-based virologist testifies of second deliberate infection with COVID-19: ‘herd immunity’ warning

Chepurnov, 68, of the local Novosibirsk newspaper, told the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper that he had contracted SARS-CoV-2 for the first time in March. The man believes he contracted the disease in Moscow when he went skiing at a resort in France, Newsweek wrote.

He felt bad: he started having a fever, he complained of chest pain, he lost his sense of smell. Chepurnov returned home where he had been diagnosed with pneumonia, but subsequent antibody tests showed he had COVID-19.

He then began to record with his team of researchers at the Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, part of the Russian Academy of Sciences, how his antibodies “behave” – ​​that is, how their blood levels change over time.

“During the experiment, we saw a fairly rapid decline,” he told the newspaper, referring to the antibodies in his blood. “At the end of the third month after the onset of the disease, we no longer find them.”

Chepurnov then decided to intentionally infect COVID-19 to see his body’s reaction. So he spent time with coronavirus patients without wearing a protective mask and checked every two weeks for infection.

Six months after the first illness, “there was no more protection,” said A. Čepurnov: he got sick a second time, the test result was positive.

The second infection, according to the virologist, was much more serious: the man was forced to go to hospital. The scientist added: “My body temperature was above 39 ° C for five days. I lost my sense of smell, my sense of taste changed. On the sixth day of illness, on a CT scan of the lungs, the lungs appeared healthy, but after three days, X-rays of the lungs revealed inflammation in both lungs. The virus disappeared pretty quickly. After two weeks, it was no longer detected in the nasopharynx or other samples. “

According to Newsweek, Cheppurnov’s experiment has several shortcomings. Because the first COVID-19 infection was only detected by an antibody test, it is difficult to determine whether the man had two different strains of the new coronavirus. This fact must be clarified to confirm that the person was indeed re-infected with SARS-CoV-2 because the original virus could simply have reappeared.

Also, the virologist indicated that your body’s reaction may be different from other people’s. A considerable number of recurrence cases will need to be investigated before any conclusions can be drawn about the development of immunity.

On the other hand, the case of A. Čepurnov coincides in many respects with other cases of reinfection described in the scientific literature. In the Netherlands, an 89-year-old woman died of recurrent coronavirus disease two months after the initial diagnosis. This was the first known death after reinfection.

Several other recurring infections have been suggested, suggesting that the second infection may be much more serious than the first. In the United States (USA), Nevada, for example, a 25-year-old man had to be hospitalized when he became ill with COVID-19 again, despite the fact that the American had previously recovered from isolation at home.

In Brazil, a 36-year-old doctor fell ill with a mild form of coronavirus, but was infected again after three months. The woman said that for the second time, her body’s inflammatory response was “stronger.” Eleven days later, the CT scan showed the doctor was suffering from acute viral pneumonia.

These examples of reinfection provide important information on the duration of acquired resistance, especially given that some politicians and scientists are calling for a “herd immunity” approach. By choosing this method to combat COVID-19, the virus could spread uncontrollably among the population and infect healthy people. It is argued that this would protect the most vulnerable people by easing (and gaining immunity) the majority of the population, causing a significant slowdown in the transmission of the virus.

Chepurnov said his experiment was a warning not to apply the herd immunity method. He also said that several doses of the vaccine will probably be needed, so the virologist believes that we will not get rid of the coronavirus quickly.

The virologist says that the number of reinfections with the new coronavirus is growing rapidly in Russia. Such statements did not initially convince Anna Popova, director of the country’s consumer protection service; the woman assured that there were no recurrent infections in Russia. However, a few weeks later, it had to be admitted that these cases had been registered in Russia.

Popova also criticized Čepurnov’s claims that he had deliberately infected COVID-19 a second time.

“Alexander Chepurnov is a man of respectable age, I can only wish him health. Working with patients without wearing a protective mask is the most foolish thing a doctor can do. And it does not matter at all whether he got sick or not. We investigated the situation, we did not find evidence that it was really a reinfection. In total, only 24 cases have been detected in the world, when people were infected with the virus for the second time, “said the doctor in mid-November and stated that there are no such cases in Russia .

However, in late November, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashka confirmed that there were repeat cases of COVID-19 in Russia.

Chepurnov says that while he would very much like to be re-infected, more attention should be paid to the recurrence theory as soon as possible.

“Unfortunately, Anna Popova is very wrong. When I got sick for the first time, there was no molecular diagnosis, only those who returned from Italy were checked and I returned from France. That is why a PCR test of my first illness did not appear. I self-determined the amount of antibodies in the ELISA test, that’s why I know I had those antibodies. I am a virologist. I am absolutely sure that my first illness was COVID-19, “says A. Čepurnovas.

Chepurnov also says that he has heard about the cases in Russia from his colleagues. Several governors reportedly fell ill repeatedly.

“It just came to our attention then. I can be wrong, these can only be individual cases. Or maybe he is right and we have a massive recurrence of the disease,” thinks the expert.

The professor also does not skimp on criticism from the developers of the second Russian vaccine, the Vector Center for Virology and Biotechnology, which registered a prototype of the vaccine in October and is currently testing.

“I know how to irritate them with my criticism and my skepticism about the Vector vaccine. I am convinced that the peptide vaccine is not effective and cannot be effective, “said A. Čepurnovas.

“Today, it is already clear that there are no antibodies in the body for an average of three to four months. Cellular immunity lasts up to half a year. My colleagues and I expected that only immunosuppressed patients would reappear with the coronavirus. Unfortunately, it turned out that we were wrong. Practice shows that a healthy person can be re-infected with COVID-19 within half a year of recovery, with the addition or subtraction of several months depending on the state of the immune system. This is also shown by my personal experience. I myself was infected with a coronavirus twice, in March and October. For the second time, the course of the disease was more severe. So, I can draw the most important conclusion: herd immunity in the case of coronavirus is impossible, “said the man to the Russian newspaper Kommersant in late October.

The virologist is skeptical about the vaccine developed by Vector.

“It is based on peptides, that is, small weakly immunogenic proteins, whose immunogenicity must be boosted with various additives. This vaccine cannot, in principle, be effective. It is only the only variant that Vektor has managed to make from the” six platforms It is known that many people who have been vaccinated with this vaccine do not even develop antibodies. The vaccine, developed by the team of academician Alexander Gincburg, is also questionable, although he has published data from clinical trials. Obviously, whether the vaccine provides immunity for a short period of time will not be adequate for revaccination.

An effective long-acting vaccine is required. This will require certain molecular constructs capable of surviving for some time in the vaccinated human and producing coronavirus proteins that will stimulate the response of the immune system. This goal should be actively pursued, with professional evaluations of vaccines being developed in the country to support promising ideas.

At the moment, it is possible to support a “dead” vaccine that the Chinese have developed and are trying to register in our country. Such a vaccine consists of a laboratory-grown pathogen that is killed, for example, by formalin. In Russia, the Chumakov Center for Immunobiological Research and Production is developing a similar vaccine. Such a product provides the body with an immunological “portrait” of the pathogen and can be injected several times if the resulting immunity is weakened. A well-known example is the tick-borne encephalitis vaccine. One of the advantages of such a vaccine is that it is easy to prepare for nasal administration. An intranasal approach would also increase the resistance of the nasal mucosa to the virus. This would allow to constantly update the antibodies in the body. Or an effective vector vaccine must be developed that stays in the body for a long time and provides immune protection. There is still a lot of work to do, ”he said.

He hopes that by 2021, the spread will begin to slow down by vaccinating the population.

“Even if the vaccine is not very effective. The rate of spread will slow down. I am convinced that if scientists succeed in developing a long-acting vaccine, we will be able to overcome COVID-19 in two or three years. It will be enough to vaccinate 50- 70% of the population, ”he said.