I just received my Moderna Covid booster shot today! We are so fortunate to have this additional dose of vaccine and I hope others will take advantage of it.
I understand that approximately 50% of CML patients showed no immunity after two vaccinations. Perhaps the third one will be effective.
Stay safe ad continue to take precautions for the sake of everyone.
CrfHarris, re: "I understand that approximately 50% of CML patients showed no immunity after two vaccinations."
If you can find an article alluding to that, I would like to see it.
An initial study based on a limited number of CML patients ranged as high as 93% had a significant immune system response so I question your understanding as having any validity but I am open to any evidence to the contrary.
I’ve read so many articles recently that I’m not sure. If I see it again, I certainly will share. Definitely prefer 93% .
I do recall when I read it, I thought that sounded reasonable from the number of persons on the USA leukemia site who were concerned that after having two shots, their results were negative. Perhaps, it includes all blood cancers….
Sorry-my post was to encourage everyone to take advantage of that third shot.
John’s Hopkins School of Public Health
Expert Insights
The Washington Post
Monzour Agha, hematologist, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, lead author on study of Blood Cancers
American Society of Microbiology
“Those with hematologic cancers did not fare as well (e.,g.,leukemia and lymphoma)….with only 55% and 37% seropositivity, respectively.
These are not from the site that I referred to in my post but found these and more by goggling the topic. Perhaps I should not have singled out CML but always consider myself included in the “leukemia” group of research. If there are specific findings that CML patients are different, I would be thrilled to know that; it would certainly put my mind at ease. Thank you for questioning this-
Crfharris, that information is not applicable to CML.
Trey
Edited July 27, 2021 at 7:13 PM
1) CML patients in the LLS study had a 97% antibody response rate to COVID-19 vaccinations,
2) The "leukemia issue" regarding lack of antibody response is primarily associated with those leukemias which involve B-cells, and CML is NOT one of those,
3) Therefore CML patients should have no particular concern about vaccination response rates.
https://www.lls.org/news/study-leukemia-lymphoma-society-shows-covid-19-...
I wonder what percentage of people with CML have a response good enough to give protection. I have detectable anti bodies from the vaccine but not enough to give me a good level of protection. I have been told i definitely need the booster when it becomes available in the UK from September. I would urge those who do not know there response level to take the booster.
Keep in mind - in order for the vaccines to work well, they still depend on the immune system to activate T-cells.
T-cell activation is done through vitamin D. So if you are low on vitamin D, even with vaccination, your response to Covid exposure will still be impaired. This is no doubt why there are so many 'breakthrough' cases occurring despite vaccination. T-cells are not activated in large enough numbers despite the vaccine.
Of course, having high vitamin D to begin with (> 50 ng/ml) will arm your immune system (T-cell response) for rapid response against the virus.
Here is a nice summary(2) of how this all works:
There are no cases I know of - NONE during my Covid research - where patients were hospitalized or died having high blood vitamin D levels (i.e. > 50 ng/ml). All ICU / hospitalized patients had low vitamin D.Most had very low vitamin D.
Having a high vitamin D level (> 50 ng/ml) will prepare your immune system for whatever Covid virus comes along whether you are vaccinated or not. If you are in a high risk group adding the vaccine probably won't hurt. It's not known if vaccination plus vitamin D leads to a faster response to the virus than vitamin D alone. However, without adequate T-cell response the vaccine alone may not be enough.
Additional information on Covid, vaccines and ADE:
https://davidson.weizmann.ac.il/en/online/reasonabledoubt/ade-and-corona...
"In the Emergency Use Authorization that the FDA has granted Pfizer’s vaccine includes a explicit note regarding ADE (page 52): “Available data do not indicate a risk of vaccine-enhanced disease, and conversely suggest effectiveness against severe disease within the available follow-up period. However, risk of vaccine-enhanced disease over time, potentially associated with waning immunity, remains unknown and needs to be evaluated further in ongoing clinical trials and in observational studies that could be conducted following authorization and/or licensure." "
There is much which is not known about Covid. It is a new disease. ADE, however, is not new. Vaccines can enhance disease severity in some cases as was observed in Dengue fever vaccine development and including some corona virus', but so far ADE does not seem to be an issue in Covid. It doesn't mean it won't happen as Covid variants emerge.
The wonderful thing about vitamin D is that in addition to fighting a respiratory viral attack, vitamin D is used to tamp down the inflammatory response after the disease is ended naturally. Remember that in Covid, it is the cytokine storm (inflammatory response) which kills (hypoxia). High vitamin D helps to prevent this over inflammatory reaction.
I can only speak for myself, but there is a reason why I have not had a flu, cold, cough, nasal anything in over 10 years ONCE I elevated my vitamin D level above 50 ng/ml. I simply haven't been sick in all that time. Prior to my taking vitamin D supplements, I was sick on average once or twice a year with colds, nasal congestion, sore throats, fever, bronchitis almost like clockwork. I had all kinds of treatments available like tamiflu, cough syrup, cold remedies, etc. always stocked in my medicine cabinet. I have none of those in my cabinet today. Correlation? Who knows. But I do test for vitamin D twice a year and supplement accordingly - and it is the single most important preventive measure I take against someone sneezing on me. That and scuba diving!
The rate at which our bodies manufacture and use vitamin D is unique to the individual. One dose for one person may be inadequate to enable a D level above 50 ng/ml and for someone else too much. This is why it is important to get a blood test and know your blood level baseline and then compare how it changes over year as you supplement.
However, in general, the current guidelines for 600 IU's daily is woefully inadequate to raise D levels above 50 ng/ml. These guidelines were developed to help children and adults avoid rickets (<16 ng/ml can lead to bone deformities).
I take 5,000 IU's daily in summer and alternate 5,000 - 10,000 daily in winter (beginning early September). My blood level will fall into the 50-60's during winter (despite my higher dose!) and by late spring, my blood level will rise into the 70's - 80's when I cut back to 5,000 IU's per day. When I am in the summer sun, I do not take any D3 supplement.
I also take vitamin K2 (200 mcg / day) which works with D in moving calcium around the body to where it needs to be. Having adequate K2 will help prevent overdosing on D3 as K2 uses D3 to do its work in the body.
Note - Full exposure in the noon time sun on most of your skin (lying out at the beach for example) can produce as much as 10,000 IU's vitamin D naturally after an hour or so (https://vitamindwiki.com/No+%E2%80%93+10+minutes+per+day+of+sun-UVB+is+N...). And interestingly, this is a maximum amount. The body does not produce more than 10,000 IU's in a day regardless of sun exposure. This is why I personally never take more than 10,000 IU's on any given day. It's not natural for the body to have more than 10,000 IU's circulating at any given time.
I found, for myself, when I was very low on vitamin D (more than 10 years ago around CML diagnosis), in order to double my blood level, I needed to take 10,000 IU's per day every day for 3 weeks. When my blood level fell to near 50 one time, I doubled up again (i.e. from 5,000 to 10,000) for a week or so to raise it back up.
Get a blood test. Know your D level. Supplement accordingly to raise it if below 50 ng/ml. Then test again in a few months time (3-4 months). It takes weeks and weeks for D to change in the body low or high. It's natures way of storing it up during summer and having it available during winter. The use of sunscreen in summer is why we as a society have a problem I suspect with depression, lowered immunity against respiratory diseases (yes, Covid) and other ailments. And to think - skin cancer rates are rising lock step with sunblock use .... Imagine that. (https://midlandscbd.com/articles/recent-study-shows-how-sunscreen-causes...).
