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catwiesel t1_iu84t6w wrote

Reply to comment by Pademelon1 in Study finds Omicron variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus which appeared at the end of 2021 have marked genetic differences from the ancestral SARS-CoV-2. The many, distinct mutations in their infection machinery have enabled them to escape from antibodies elicited from the original series of vaccines. by MyLifeisAsaJoker

I often think this when reading new study headlines. its human to feel like "we know this!".... but, first, lets not forget the summaries and headlines are maybe not sufficient to convey what the study actually did or did not do.

but more importantly. every reasonably executed study will contribute to what we know. maybe its to confirm a suspicion. maybe its using a novel way of coming to a conclusion previously held. maybe its reproducing the results of another study with the same method. all of these are not a waste of money or time, they are essential to how science work and what it means to "know something"

that is especially important in a time where many people equate "got told on facebook" with "we know"

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SnooPuppers1978 t1_iu8xf5t wrote

But then don't use titles like that. There's many other parts of that study that are even far more interesting. Like the immune imprinting part. This might hint that if you have had anti bodies against Wuhan variant, it will be harder for your immune system to adapt to Omicron compared to if you didn't have any immunity and started from a blank spot. Because this is clearly concerning and I don't think that's something that yet been confirmed.

> The scientist also determined that antibody responses to the pandemic coronavirus follows a pattern similar to the way the immune system responds to variations of the influenza virus.This phenomenon is called immune imprinting. It means that the immune response shows a preference for recalling existing memory B cells specific against parts of the virus present in a strain to which an individual was previously exposed, rather than priming new memory B cells targeting differences present in markedly different strains upon infection. While this can be helpful in stimulating a cross-variant attack, the scientists explain, having previous exposure to earlier versions of a virus can sometimes hinder a more specific response against a virus that has mutated significantly.

This is something that is very important to know, to make decisions on how and when to vaccinate.

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catwiesel t1_iu9j9uc wrote

i dont make the titles. and sadly, we do live in a clickbaity world. probably always did...

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