mRNA Vaccines Alters Human DNA?
Fact 1: mRNA (messenger Ribonucleic Acid) is a molecule that instructs DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) to make protein.
In general, RNA cannot be incorporated into DNA readily. Human DNA is housed in the nucleus of the cell and is separate from the rest of the cell. Movement of molecules in and out of the nucleus is strictly controlled.
Since mRNA vaccines only tell human cells to produce the Covid-19 virus' spike protein, which the body then mounts an immune response against, the vaccines themselves do not have any part of the virus' genetic code and cannot make the entire virus itself.
"The mRNA of the spike protein alone is like the body of a car without its engine. It looks like a car but goes nowhere," says Professor Ooi Eng Eong, an expert on emerging infectious diseases at Duke-NUS Medical School.
Professor Ooi pointed out that there were several limitations in the study that the doctors referenced.
First, the study used a DNA sequencing technique known as high throughput screening, in which multiple genes and even the entire genome can be sequenced simultaneously. This generate a lot of genetic material, and polymerase chain reactions were used to amplify this material. If error are present, they will be amplified.
Experiments were also done in an artificial environment of a cell line in a test tube and not in patient tissues. Results from this do not always accurately replicate what occurs in animal or human cells.
"The proof of pudding will
be to find Sars-COV-2 integrated into the genome of a Covid-19 patient.
Despite the many genome level studies that have been done, such an event
has not been found. The evidence that Sars-CoV-2 is able ti insert its
genome into the human genome is thus inconclusive at this stage," said
Professor Ooi.
Body Natural Immune System
Fact 2: There is a theoretical possibility that a vaccine may induce the body to produce a low level of antibodies that may be insufficient to kill the virus if the person is infected with Sars-CoV-2, the virus which causes the Covid-19 disease. There is a possibility that the virus may stay in the body and mutate.
But international data so far has shown that the coronavirus mutates slowly and if the vast majority of the global population is vaccinated, the chances of mutations happening will be small.
Vaccines which train the body's immune system to fight off the virus in the event of a real infection, have been shown to be highly effective in reducing the number of Covid-19 infections and mortality rate.
As for whether the body's natural immunity after being infected could be better at fending off the virus than the community conferred by vaccination, Professor Paul Thambiah, president of the Asia Pacific Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infection, said: "There is a theoretical possibility that natural infection gives better and more long lasting immunity than vaccination, but many people are not willing to take the risk,"
He added that this idea is not new. In the past, there were those who advocates "chicken pox parties" when a child in the neighborhood had chicken pox instead of having children vaccinated against the disease.
"When people realized that some children can get seriously ill from chicken pox and how safe the chicken pox vaccines are, that idea has gone out of the window," said Professor Thambiah.
Side Effects
Fact 3: When trying to determine whether an event was caused by a drug, some factors such as how biologically plausible the event is, the time frame after the dose was taken and if the effect was observed again after reintroduction, needs to be considered, Dr Danny Soon of the Consortium for Clinical Research and Innovation Singapore (Cris) said.
Associate Professor Hsu Li Yang, vice-dean of global health at the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, said that baseline comparisons for side effects also need to be made to tell if there are higher incidents of these conditions after vaccination.
"For more common conditions like heart attacks and strokes that happen on a daily basis in singapore, it is quite likely that one can have a stroke within a week after vaccination, but which is not actually triggered by the vaccine," Said Professor Hsu.
Three independent bodies of medical experts in Singapore have reiterated that the risk of heart conditions associated with Covid-19 mRNA vaccine is "very small" for the fact that there were a handful of people belonging to the under 30 age group who suffered from myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscles) and pericarditis (inflammable of the lining outside the heart), and have recommended that people still get the vaccines in the interest of public health.
Singapore's HSA, the Health Sciences Authority said in general, five to seven individuals per 100,000 people a year are hospitalised for mycarditis or pericarditis. "The frequency of heart attacks and strokes in vaccinated people locally is within the background incidence rate, and therefore there is no evidence currently that the vaccines can directly cause these events." HSA said.
Long-Term Side Effect
The mRNA vaccine and the protein it triggers production of are both broken down by the human body after a few days. This makes it highly unlikely that there will be side effects that occur years later.
The majority of vaccine side effects such as injection site pain and swelling, fever and fatigue are predictable and happen within days of injection. Severe allergic reactions can also happen but these are rare and for the majority of vaccines usually occur within hours of the injection.
Some unusual side effects have been observed weeks after Covid-19 vaccinations, like facial muscle weakness and bleeding. The health authorities are continuing to monitor for these nearer term side effects as vaccinations continue, Dr Soon added.
constitute personal advice. Always discuss medical conditions and related matters with your doctor.
Source: Singhealth Tomorow's Medicine Research & The Straits Times
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