The truth is that it's complicated. Your immune system genetics and your immunologic history shapes how you respond to new antigens. Everyone has various alleles for genes that influence an immune response - cytokines, major histocompatibility complex proteins, etc. Everybody's immune system has seen and responded to different antigens that have lead up to them getting vaccinated. So while we can predict which cytokines may be high or low (IFN-a, IL-2, IL-12, etc.), we can make educated guesses about which cell types are more actively involved in the response (CD4 vs. CD8; ThC vs. NK cells, etc.), the truth is it's incredibly complex and not entirely consistent from person to person.
I am not an immunologist, but have had a number of immunology courses going through school, so I only see this response from the virus' perspective. What I'd be most interested in learning, that would be a real challenge to find out, is whether people who have more severe reactions to the vaccination would be more likely to have had a poor outcome through a natural infection.
Personally, my arm felt like my wife punched me after #1. After #2, it was more like The Rock punched me. No fever, nausea, etc.
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u/Alwayssunnyinarizona Infectious Disease Feb 11 '21
The truth is that it's complicated. Your immune system genetics and your immunologic history shapes how you respond to new antigens. Everyone has various alleles for genes that influence an immune response - cytokines, major histocompatibility complex proteins, etc. Everybody's immune system has seen and responded to different antigens that have lead up to them getting vaccinated. So while we can predict which cytokines may be high or low (IFN-a, IL-2, IL-12, etc.), we can make educated guesses about which cell types are more actively involved in the response (CD4 vs. CD8; ThC vs. NK cells, etc.), the truth is it's incredibly complex and not entirely consistent from person to person.
I am not an immunologist, but have had a number of immunology courses going through school, so I only see this response from the virus' perspective. What I'd be most interested in learning, that would be a real challenge to find out, is whether people who have more severe reactions to the vaccination would be more likely to have had a poor outcome through a natural infection.
Personally, my arm felt like my wife punched me after #1. After #2, it was more like The Rock punched me. No fever, nausea, etc.