INMYVIEW... The mumps vaccine reduces Covid risk

IN OUR delight over the new coronavirus vaccine, we must not forget the importance of keeping up to date with more ‘everyday’ vaccination programmes.

Readers may recall my description in a previous column of some 1,000 U.S. naval personnel who contracted Covid-19 early in the pandemic. It was remarkable that only a handful were hospitalised.

One possible explanation (apart from their youth) was that all the crew had received an MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) immunisation within the previous year.

This contains weakened live viruses, and the injection may have stimulated t heir immune systems, strengthening their defences.

Further research has now been published supporting that theory. As the journal mBio reports, it seems that the more mumps virus antibodies an individual has, the greater their protection against severe Covid-19 illness.

The researchers found that patients with moderate or severe Covid-19 all had low mumps antibody levels — they hadn’t had the jab.

Meanwhile, those who had Covid-19 but no symptoms — and who had previously had the MMR jab — had high levels of the mumps antibodies.

The conclusion must be that the MMR vaccine enhances long-term immunity against Covid-19.

This is a good reason to make sure all children get the MMR jab, and I am not alone in proposing that adults should receive a booster of this at the present time, too. In theory, this additional injection can be requested from your GP.

This is one more strategy that could be lifesaving.