In a recent review published in Journal of Clinical MedicineIn the study, the researchers described two studies, the CLOFIT (Corona Lockdown: How Fit?) retrospective study and the real-time COTEST (Corona Test Street) study, which investigated whether maintaining adequate immune fitness could add significantly to existing strategies for disease preparedness. Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) and other epidemics.
background
Adequate immune fitness refers to the intrinsic ability to adapt to external health conditions by increasing the resilience of the immune system to prevent or combat infection. It is necessary to adopt healthy lifestyle habits such as eating a balanced diet, physical exercise and abstaining from smoking, drug or alcohol abuse to improve immune fitness to provide strong protection against infection with pathogenic organisms.
The global strategy for the prevention and mitigation of COVID-19 has primarily focused on early diagnosis and development of COVID-19 vaccines and drugs. However, COVID-19 treatments do not have uniform access globally, especially for low- and middle-income countries. Lifestyle changes offer a cost-effective, easily adopted, and directly beneficial solution to raising individual preparedness for COVID-19 and future pandemics.
CLOFIT . Study
The CLOFIT study was an online survey of 1,415 Dutch adults registered via Facebook ads. The study assessed their pre-pandemic (2019) immune fitness during the first COVID-19 lockdown period between March 15 and May 11, 2020 (during which severe acute respiratory syndrome alpha variant 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was prevalent).
Besides demographics, individuals have reported: their perceived immune fitness in the previous year [immune fitness (2019)]; Their perceived immune fitness at initial closure [immune fitness (DL)]; The number and severity of COVID-19 symptoms in lockdown.
Nine symptoms associated with the alpha variant were evaluated: runny nose, sneezing, coughing, sore throat, shortness of breath, malaise, and high temperature (up to 38 ◦c), fever (above 38 ◦c) chest pain.
Based on a stepwise regression analysis, immune fitness (DL), and immune fitness (2019), the presence of underlying diseases significantly associated with the number and severity of COVID-19 symptoms. However, immune fitness (2019) was the most important predictor of the number and severity of COVID-19 symptoms.
The immune fitness variables (DL and 2019) were significantly lower among women than men, with a significantly higher number of symptoms and increased severity of COVID-19 reported by women. Patient age and body mass index were poorly correlated with the presence and severity of COVID-19 symptoms.
COTEST دراسة study
The COTEST study was a real-time study conducted between December 2020 and June 2021 (during which the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant was dominant) on 925 Dutch adults who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 by rapid antigen tests. Test results were sent via email, which also included a questionnaire to be filled out online to participate in the study.
The survey involved an assessment of an individual’s demographics (sex, age, height, and body weight) to derive BMI values. In addition, underlying medical disorders. Cardiovascular disorders, hypertension, liver disorders, kidney disorders, diabetes, neurological disorders (such as migraines, epilepsy), immune conditions (such as Crohn’s disease, rheumatism), respiratory disorders (such as asthma and COPD), and psychiatric disorders (for example, depression have been reported) anxiety) and allergic conditions (such as hay fever).
Seventeen symptoms observed in delta infection were evaluated, namely: sore throat, runny nose, cough, shortness of breath, and fever (≥38 ◦c), chest pain, headache, congestion, shivering, tiredness, aging, loss of sense of smell, muscle pain, confusion, blue face or lips, difficulty waking or staying awake, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting.
Immune fitness (2019) was assessed using a seven-item Immunological Status Questionnaire (ISQ), which included diarrhea, colds, sudden rise in body temperature, headache, musculoskeletal pain, skin problems (eg, eczema, acne), and cough. Perceived immune fitness at the time of testing [immune fitness (T)] Loss was assessed on a one-item scale.
In the COTEST study, immune fitness variables (T and 2019) were significantly associated with the number and severity of COVID-19 symptoms in SARS-CoV-2-positive and SARS-CoV-2-positive individuals, confirming the results of the CLOFIT study. However, among individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2, immune fitness (2019) was the only strong predictor of the number (27%) and severity (33%) of COVID-19 symptoms during an epidemic.
Conclusion
Results from the CLOFIT study and the COTEST study showed that adequate immune fitness is associated with fewer and less severe COVID-19 symptoms. In addition to early detection of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 vaccines and other treatments, measures taken to maintain adequate immune fitness, such as lifestyle changes supported by increased government healthcare investments, are vital to improving global COVID-19 preparedness and epidemics in the future.
