List of "Science" Rumors in December 2022: Can Yangkang produce antibodies in 15 days? Can sweating reduce fever?

The list of "scientific" rumors for December 2022 is revealed! Can antibodies be produced 15 days after COVID-19 is "positive"? Can "sweating" reduce a child's fever? Is it better to get positive and get better sooner if you are infected with COVID-19? Let's see the truth.

The monthly "science" rumor list is guided by the Beijing Association for Science and Technology, the Beijing Municipal Cyberspace Administration, and the Capital Internet Association, and jointly released by the Beijing Science and Technology Journalists and Editors Association and the Beijing Regional Website Joint Rumor-Refuting Platform, and is supported by the Science and Technology Journalists and Editors Professional Committee of the China Science Writers Association, the China Evening News Science Editors and Journalists Association, the Shanghai Science Communication Association, and the Institute of Science and Technology Information of the Beijing Academy of Science and Technology.

1. It takes 15 days for COVID-19 to produce antibodies

gossip:

It is said online that it takes another 15 days to produce antibodies after recovering from the new coronavirus infection, so a second infection is most likely about a week after recovery.

the truth:

In fact, the moment the virus enters the human body, the human immune system has already started working. The protective antibodies produced later will reach a peak in two to three weeks and last for a longer time, but it does not mean that the body will not have protection within these two weeks. If the virus really enters the body at this time, it can be quickly cleared, and it is relatively difficult to be infected.

In general, the longer the time after infection, the lower the antibody level in the body, and the greater the risk of infection. After recovering from the new coronavirus infection, the protection generally lasts for 3 to 6 months.

2. When a child has a fever, "covering and sweating" can reduce the fever

gossip:

When a child is infected with a virus and develops a fever, chills and shivering, the fever can be reduced by wrapping him in a blanket and letting him sweat.

the truth:

Many people have had this experience: when they have a fever, they sweat and the fever goes away. In fact, sweating is the result of the fever going away, not the cause.

When you have a fever, your body temperature changes through three stages: the temperature rises, with chills or shivering; the high fever persists, with the body temperature rising to a peak and lasting for a period of time, during which time you consume a lot of energy, have dry mouth and tongue, and feel hot all over; the temperature drops, with sweating to dissipate heat and moist skin.

Because infants and young children do not have adequate language expression, by the time parents discover that their children have a fever, they are usually close to or in the high fever stage. Covering them tightly at this time will affect heat dissipation, and the body temperature will not drop, which will also lead to a clinical disease exclusive to infants and young children: heat syndrome. Therefore, when a child has a fever and enters the high fever stage, you must not cover them.

It is not terrible for children to have a fever. It mainly depends on whether the parents use the right method to reduce fever. If the child's temperature does not exceed 38.5℃, parents can completely use physical cooling to reduce the temperature of the child.

3. After recovering from COVID-19, all daily necessities should be replaced

gossip:

After a person infected with the new coronavirus recovers, daily necessities such as toothbrushes and towels must be replaced with new ones, because the remaining viruses on the items may cause the recovered person to "re-test positive".

the truth:

Just as we don’t throw away lipstick, toothbrushes and other daily necessities that may contain viruses after we recover from the flu, we don’t have to replace daily necessities after we recover from the COVID-19 infection. On the one hand, the longest survival time of the new coronavirus on the surface of objects under experimental conditions will not exceed 10 days. On the other hand, because after infection, the human body will produce specific antibodies against the corresponding strains and variants, when the human body is exposed to the same virus again, the immune cells in the body can quickly produce antibodies and eliminate the virus.

Studies have shown that reinfection is possible as early as three months after infection with the new coronavirus. This "re-infection" is unlikely to be reinfected by the virus on one's daily necessities. If it is "re-infected" in a short period of time, it must be accidentally infected with another mutant strain of the virus, which is the same as catching a cold several times in a winter.

4. WHO reminds: Avoid using ibuprofen during COVID-19

gossip:

The World Health Organization reminds: Avoid using ibuprofen when you have symptoms of COVID-19 to avoid aggravating the infection.

(Image source: Internet)

the truth:

This is outdated news and is not suitable as a reference for today's medication.

The news that COVID-19 patients cannot take ibuprofen first came from a study published in The Lancet in March 2020. The study pointed out that the new coronavirus invades cells by "hijacking" the human body's ACE2 receptors, and some drugs such as ibuprofen may increase the expression level of ACE2 and promote the invasion of the new coronavirus. For this reason, researchers have made a hypothesis that these drugs may increase the risk of severe COVID-19.

In the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak, humans had limited knowledge of the virus, so the World Health Organization gave advice in March 2020: While the research was still unclear, it was recommended that ordinary people do not take ibuprofen on their own. But then the WHO quickly clarified: This advice is not against the use of ibuprofen.

In the past two years, people have already had a deeper understanding of the new coronavirus and ibuprofen. Many studies have not found any scientific evidence to show a link between ibuprofen and overexpression of ACE2 receptors. On the contrary, some studies have pointed out that ibuprofen can inhibit the production of inflammatory cytokines and may reduce the risk of severe illness.

5. "Early recovery after COVID-19 infection"

gossip:

Being infected with Omicron virus is like getting a vaccine. You will be infected sooner or later anyway, so it is better to get it early.

the truth:

This view is wrong. One infection with the new coronavirus does not provide lifelong immunity. Although you will gain immunity to the virus for a certain period of time after being infected with the new coronavirus, it does not mean that you will not be infected again. If a long period of time has passed since the infection, the antibody titer in the body will become lower and lower. When the antibody titer is no longer sufficient to resist the invasion of the virus, there is a possibility of secondary infection.

If the virus mutates, there may be immune escape, and the risk of secondary infection is even greater. From Alpha, Beta, to Gamma, Delta, and Omicron, the new coronavirus mutates very quickly, and even the Omicron variant can be divided into many types. The current new coronavirus vaccine can only reduce the chance of infection, but cannot block infection, mainly because of its volatility.

Experts say that even if you have been infected with the new coronavirus, you still need to take precautions, and it is also necessary to get vaccinated after infection.

6. There will be serious sequelae after infection with the new coronavirus

gossip:

After being infected with the new coronavirus, in addition to acute symptoms, there are also very serious sequelae.

the truth:

Academician Zhong Nanshan said, "In medicine, there is a strict definition of sequelae, which refers to the lifelong damage caused by the disease. Some symptoms caused by the new coronavirus will gradually disappear, and we don't call it sequelae. I haven't seen any particularly obvious cases of long-term organ dysfunction."

For those infected with COVID-19, some people may experience clinical symptoms that last for a long time, such as loss of taste and smell, joint pain, memory loss, chest pain, cough, etc. Some scholars call these "long COVID-19". Chong Yutian, a professor at the Department of Infectious Diseases of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, believes that these cannot be classified as "sequelae of COVID-19". "At present, the academic community has not confirmed that COVID-19 has sequelae, at least there is no evidence to show that there are sequelae."

7. You can choose a "mild strain" to infect yourself and produce antibodies

gossip:

Being infected with the "Beijing strain" would be more serious than the "Guangzhou strain", so you should choose a "mild strain" to be infected.

the truth:

Judging from the current strains of the new coronavirus prevalent in my country, they are mainly different variants of Omicron. For example, the Omicron BF.7 variant is prevalent in Beijing, Baoding and other places, while the Omicron BA.5.2 variant is prevalent in Guangzhou, Chongqing and other places.

Some netizens have joked about the "blade strain", "dizziness strain", "loss of taste strain", etc., but there is actually no scientific basis. There is no obvious difference between the various branches of the Omicron variant, but different patients will have different clinical manifestations. Even if it is the same strain, it will manifest differently among different people according to each person's resistance and basic physical condition. You can't think that a person is infected with a milder strain just because he has mild symptoms after being infected.

The overall symptoms of infection with the Omicron variant are: there may be a fever for 1 to 2 days in the early stage of infection, followed by respiratory and upper respiratory tract symptoms, which will be basically relieved in 3 to 5 days. At present, the overall severe disease rate of the Omicron variant has dropped to a very low level. Even if you are infected, there is no need to panic or be too nervous.

8. Elderly people are more likely to experience adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine

gossip:

Compared with young and middle-aged people, elderly people are more likely to suffer adverse reactions from the new coronavirus vaccine.

the truth:

Adverse reactions to vaccines are caused by the inherent characteristics of the vaccine itself and the individual differences of the vaccine recipients. After vaccination, a small number of people may experience some reactions that are unrelated to the purpose of vaccination or are unexpected. Adverse reactions to vaccines include general reactions and abnormal reactions.

my country is currently continuing to monitor suspected abnormal reactions to the new coronavirus vaccine. The overall reported incidence rate of adverse reactions to the new coronavirus vaccine in the elderly population aged 60 years and above is slightly lower than the reported level in the population under 60 years old. The vast majority are general reactions, and a few are abnormal reactions. The reported incidence rate of severe abnormal reactions is less than one in a million.

A large amount of monitoring and research has shown that compared with people who have received the new coronavirus vaccine, the risk of illness, severe illness and death is much higher for unvaccinated people. This risk can be greatly reduced through vaccination.

9. Tap water is positive and can spread viruses

gossip:

When tap water is dropped onto the new coronavirus antigen test plate, the result shows "two bars", which means that the tap water is "positive" and can spread the virus.

the truth:

Tap water that meets safety standards will not become a channel for the spread of the new coronavirus.

Tap water, cola, orange juice and other liquids are completely different from human samples. Pouring them into the test liquid will destroy the test liquid components in the antigen extraction tube. Any color changes produced after adding them to the test well for reaction will not be of reference value.

Previously, many authoritative experts have stated that any antigen test that is not conducted in accordance with the product instructions will have invalid results. Using antigens to test non-human samples such as tap water and cola cannot determine whether the test kit is reliable or whether tap water is safe.

The new coronavirus is very fragile outside the body. Tap water is disinfected with chlorine before leaving the factory, and a certain residual chlorine content is maintained in the water leaving the factory, which can continuously kill bacteria and viruses, ensuring that the tap water is safe and reliable.

10. After the COVID-19 symptoms are relieved, you should continue to take the medicine to consolidate the effect

gossip:

After the symptoms related to the new coronavirus infection are alleviated, you should continue to take medication to consolidate the therapeutic effect, otherwise there is a high possibility of "re-positivity".

the truth:

Most of the drugs used to treat COVID-19 are symptomatic (such as reducing fever, relieving cough, reducing phlegm, relieving runny nose, nasal congestion, sore throat, dry throat, diarrhea, etc.). If the uncomfortable symptoms are relieved and improved, these drugs should be stopped in time without "consolidating" the therapeutic effect.

The timing of stopping the medication is mainly based on the disappearance of symptoms. If the symptoms are not serious, the fever is below 38.5℃, and it does not have much impact on life, it is not necessary to take antipyretics. Once the symptoms improve, the medication should be stopped as soon as possible. Take the least amount of medication while being able to control the symptoms. If the sore throat has recovered to the point where there is no special feeling, you can also stop taking the medication.

Of course, if the symptoms do not improve after taking the medicine for a long time, it is still recommended to go to the hospital for medical treatment to check whether there are other complications or other influencing factors. Some viral infections may cause serious complications such as viral myocarditis. Taking medicine at home will only delay the disease.

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(Sources of this issue: People's Daily Online, People's Daily Client, China Youth Daily, China News Service, Health Times, Science Popularization China, Beijing Daily Client, "Tsinghua University Student Affairs Office" WeChat Official Account, Guangzhou Daily, Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, "Beijing Release" WeChat Official Account, Beijing Youth Daily, Beijing News, "Beijing Association for Science and Technology" WeChat Official Account)