Is there a connection between iron deficiency and anemia and the effectiveness of the corona vaccine and other vaccines? A team of researchers from the world's leading universities claim that yes * The solution is adding iron to food which will also make it possible to combat anemia
Iron deficiency is the most common worldwide of all minerals, affecting more than 2 billion people. It is known that it may cause a decrease in energy production in the cells due to a decrease in the amount of oxygen reaching them and lead to symptoms such as fatigue and weakness. An international team of researchers from the worlds of biology and medicine, specializing in the study of iron in humans, claims that a lack of iron from a source of nutritional deficiency or chronic inflammatory diseases, may significantly reduce the effectiveness of the corona vaccine, along with other vaccines.
The team, led by Prof. Hal Derricksmith from the University of Oxford and Prof. Michael Zimmerman from ETH Zurich, in collaboration with Prof. Yoav Kavanchik and Prof. Haim Hershko from the Hebrew University, referred to a number of studies conducted on the subject, examined them and raised for the first time the possibility that people suffering from iron deficiency And anemia may respond to vaccines with relatively low efficiency - than those who do not suffer from it.
The corona caused a disruption in the food supply and deepened the iron shortage
Despite the enormous benefits that vaccination programs have brought to global health, certain vaccines have variable effectiveness in different populations, age groups and in relation to certain underlying conditions. The reasons for this different effectiveness are still unclear. For example, antiviral and live attenuated influenza vaccines in infant populations in low- and middle-income countries, hepatitis B In patients with chronic kidney disease or celiac disease and influenza vaccines in people. All those vaccines represent cases where iron deficiency is common, and a lower effectiveness of the vaccine has been reported.
The World Health Organization has even set a goal of reducing the prevalence of anemia among women of childbearing age by 50% by 2025. Furthermore, the corona epidemic is increasing nutritional insecurity in the world, which may worsen the iron deficiency in the shorter term. If iron deficiency also impairs the effectiveness of vaccines, in addition to the known contributions to anemia and cognitive impairment, the current and future impact of iron deficiency on global health may not receive the attention it deserves.
According to the article, it is not yet known what degree of iron deficiency is required to affect immune responses to vaccines, or whether other nutritional deficiencies, or inflammatory conditions, may exacerbate the effects of iron deficiency. Furthermore, it is not known which of the different branches of the immune system are most sensitive to iron deficiency, or how the development and maintenance of immune memory is affected by iron.
According to the researchers, with the help of follow-up studies and testing of the effect of taking iron supplements, "it will be possible to increase the effectiveness of the vaccine and cause a significant improvement in mortality on a global scale. The potential effects of iron deficiency on the quality, size and duration of the immune response to the corona vaccine should be examined."
