Some good news: Breakthrough infections generate 'super immunity' to COVID-19, study suggests [View all]

[Tommy Carcetti]

So not only does being vaccinated make any breakthrough infection milder, it might protect you from subsequent infections. Cool.

https://news.ohsu.edu/2021/12/16/breakthrough-infections-generate-super-immunity-to-covid-19-study-suggests

Breakthrough infections greatly enhance immune response to variants of the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a newly published study from Oregon Health & Science University.

The laboratory results, published online ahead of print today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), reveals that a breakthrough infection generates a robust immune response against the delta variant. Authors say the findings suggest the immune response is likely to be highly effective against other variants as the SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to mutate.

The study is the first to use live SARS-CoV-2 variants to measure cross-neutralization of blood serum from breakthrough cases.

“You can’t get a better immune response than this,” said senior author Fikadu Tafesse, Ph.D., assistant professor of molecular microbiology and immunology in the OHSU School of Medicine. “These vaccines are very effective against severe disease. Our study suggests that individuals who are vaccinated and then exposed to a breakthrough infection have super immunity.”