Publications by authors named "Duncan Cook"
Article Synopsis
- Vaccination against COVID-19 has clear physiological benefits, but its impact on behavior is less understood, particularly regarding risk compensation, where people take on more risk due to feeling safer.
- The study found that while personal vaccination didn't significantly change individual behaviors, people were more likely to engage in riskier activities as overall vaccination rates in the population increased.
- This trend of risk compensation was consistent across the four nations of the UK, each having different policies in place during the vaccination rollout.
Article Synopsis
- The study analyzed how changing COVID-19 variants, specifically from Delta to Omicron BA.1 and BA.2, influenced reported symptoms among infected individuals in the UK.
- Results showed that while the incidence of classic symptoms like loss of taste and smell significantly decreased with the onset of Omicron, sore throat symptoms increased, complicating symptom-based detection of the virus.
- The findings suggest that symptom patterns vary across age groups, with adults aged 18-65 experiencing more symptoms than children or older adults, highlighting the need for adjustments in testing strategies.
Given high SARS-CoV-2 incidence, coupled with slow and inequitable vaccine roll-out in many settings, there is a need for evidence to underpin optimum vaccine deployment, aiming to maximise global population immunity. We evaluate whether a single vaccination in individuals who have already been infected with SARS-CoV-2 generates similar initial and subsequent antibody responses to two vaccinations in those without prior infection. We compared anti-spike IgG antibody responses after a single vaccination with ChAdOx1, BNT162b2, or mRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in the COVID-19 Infection Survey in the UK general population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntibody responses are an important part of immunity after Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination. However, antibody trajectories and the associated duration of protection after a second vaccine dose remain unclear. In this study, we investigated anti-spike IgG antibody responses and correlates of protection after second doses of ChAdOx1 or BNT162b2 vaccines for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in the United Kingdom general population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study analyzes data from the UK's national COVID-19 Infection Survey to identify which demographic and behavioral factors correlate with higher rates of SARS-CoV-2 positivity between July 2020 and July 2021.
- Results showed that younger individuals, those living in Northern England or urban areas, and unvaccinated people were more likely to test positive, particularly during specific waves of the pandemic (e.g., Alpha and Delta variants).
- The findings suggest that real-time surveillance of these factors is crucial for effective public health strategies and monitoring the spread of COVID-19.
Article Synopsis
- The study analyzed the effectiveness of various symptoms for detecting COVID-19 infections (SARS-CoV-2) in the UK, comparing symptomatic responses among PCR-positive and negative individuals from April 2020 to August 2021.
- It found that 48% of those infected reported symptoms, which varied by factors like age and vaccination status, with notable changes over time and the emergence of new variants, especially the Delta variant.
- The research indicated that including more symptoms improved detection sensitivity of COVID-19 but also increased the number of symptoms reported per case significantly from 4.6 to 8.7.
Article Synopsis
- The study assessed the effectiveness of the BNT162b2 and ChAdOx1 vaccines against the Delta variant (B.1.617.2) of SARS-CoV-2 in randomly selected households in the UK.
- Results showed a decrease in vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic infections and high viral loads, with reductions of 10-13% for BNT162b2 and 16% for ChAdOx1 compared to the Alpha variant (B.1.1.7).
- Despite the reduced effectiveness, vaccination still provides better protection than prior natural infection, with dynamics of immunity differing between the two vaccines, particularly in how quickly protection declines after the second dose.