Medical experts have warned that drinking alcohol can derail immunisations – just as millions of Brits hope to join the queue for the Coronavirus vaccine in the coming months.
Efforts to defeat the deadly Covid-19 virus took a step in the right direction last month when the Pfizer vaccine began being administered after being approved for use in the UK.
Hopes of vaccinating 2million Brits per week have been boosted this week following the approval of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab – which will start being administered on Monday and which Boots and Tesco are helping distribute and administer.
However, experts have warned that drinking alcohol can have a negative effect on vaccines – with fears that just three glasses of Prosecco can disrupt their effectiveness.
The MailOnline reports that alcohol can change the make-up of “trillions of microorganisms that live in the gut which play an important role in preventing the invasion of bacteria and viruses.”
University of Manchester’s top Immunologist, Professor Sheena Cruickshank, also gave a stark warning about knocking back drinks and maintaining a healthy immune system.
Professor Cruickshank said: “You need to have your immune system working tip-top to have a good response to the vaccine, so if you're drinking the night before, or shortly afterwards, that's not going to help.”
Emergency medicine specialist Dr Ronx Ikharia shared findings in a BBC documentary called The Truth About… Boosting Your Immune System – which is due to air on Wednesday.
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Dr Ikharia’s studied blood samples of volunteers who had consumed three glasses of Prosecco.
The research revealing the levels of lymphocyte cells in their blood – which help the body ward off infections – had dropped by as much as 50 per cent.
Professor Cruickshank recommends avoiding alcohol around the time of receiving a Covid-19 vaccine.
Lymphocytes make up approximately 20-40 percent of the number of white blood cells in adults and are found mostly in key organs – including the spleen, lymph nodes and tonsils – where an initial immune response is likely to begin.
The microscopic cells are a key ingredient in the human ability to fight off infections – including Covid infections.
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