Sometimes the dead speak to you. – Kenneth Eade
A series of autopsy cases among 29 fatal COVID-19 breakthrough infections were published as a preprint in medRxiv. Pathologists and other faculty members from the University of Augsburg in Germany did the research.
Sixteen partially and 13 fully vaccinated deceased individuals were included. They received Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Sinovac.
Breakthrough infections occurred in the majority of individuals, and only two
were defined as “vaccination failure.”
Vaccination failure is when antibodies are not produced in response to the vaccines. This can be from immune suppression: an example, the intake of steroids for specific medical conditions.
As a control group and for comparison, 141 autopsy cases of unvaccinated people were compared. Nineteen of those cases were published before.
Several concerning findings among the breakthrough cases are different from unvaccinated deaths.
A. high viral loads among breakthrough cases
There were high viral loads detected in the nasopharyngeal swabs and lung samples. The large amounts of SARS-CoV-2 viruses mean that viral replication was unchecked, allowing the viruses to spread and infect all body organs.
Cycle thresholds (Ct) are used to determine viral loads. The lower the CT, the higher the viral loads. A Ct of 28 is enough to be positive for COVID-19. In this study, The average CT was 18.
Partially vaccinated deceased individuals have higher viral loads than fully vaccinated, reflecting the depressed immune system after vaccination.
B. Viral dissemination in breakthroughs
SARS-CoV-2 viruses were detected all over the body, especially in the partially vaccinated compared to fully vaccinated cases. SARS-CoV-2 viruses were seen in the different body organs, including the brain and cerebrospinal fluid.
In comparison, disseminations were previously found in only three of 19 deceased patients who were not vaccinated. Among the unvaccinated, the viruses were isolated only in the lungs. [2]
The viral spread was seen in five of the thirteen fully vaccinated.
C. Bacterial and Fungal Superinfections
Superinfection is a second infection that occurs after the first. A typical example is a bacterial pneumonia on top of viral pneumonia. The decrease in the immune system’s effectiveness due to viral infection is the most common reason.
11 out of 29 had superinfections. Four are aspergillosis cases. Aspergillus is a common fungus present in the body, and it is an opportunistic infection and takes advantage of the decreased immunity to grow and cause disease.
One patient died of an abscess in the kidneys. Superinfections are more common in breakthrough cases compared to those without vaccination.
The three mechanisms, vaccine-induced COVID symptoms, inadequate immune response, and ADE, do not happen to everyone vaccinated. Or not yet. More studies need to be made to know who is at risk for COVID shot complications.
For now, consider what you just read before getting a booster shot. Early treatment of COVID-19 is essential to prevent ADE.
The explanation for the bodywide spread of the SARS-CoV-2 is explained in Disseminated SARS-CoV-2 autopsy findings in breakthrough cases explained
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Related:
- Concerning autopsy findings on a patient who had a COVID shot
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- What is Antibody-Dependent Enhancement, and why should you care.
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References:
- Hirschbuehl et al. High viral loads: what drives fatal cases of COVID-19 in vaccinees? an autopsy study. medRxiv 2021.12.03.21267155; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.03.21267155
- Hirschbühl et al. Viral mapping in COVID-19 deceased in the Augsburg autopsy series of the first wave: A multiorgan and multimethodological approach. PLoS One. 2021 Jul 19;16(7):e0254872. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254872. PMID: 34280238; PMCID: PMC8289110.
- Lei et al. SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Impairs Endothelial Function via Downregulation of ACE 2. Originally published31 Mar 2021 https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.121.318902. Circulation Research. 2021;128:1323–1326
- Jiang H, Mei YF. SARS-CoV-2 Spike Impairs DNA Damage Repair and Inhibits V(D)J Recombination In Vitro. Viruses. 2021;13(10):2056. Published 2021 Oct 13. doi:10.3390/v13102056
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