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    Correcting this week’s misinformation: week of April 4, 2024

    Do vaccines exhaust T-cells and cause autoimmunity?

    The Claim:

    Using complex science terms, Dr. Mikolaj Raszek, a genomic sequencing company founder, claims that mRNA vaccines cause an unusual production of IgG4 antibodies, leading to T-cell exhaustion and eventual autoimmunity.

    The Facts:

    Beware people wielding complex scientific terms. Their jargon is meant to confuse you.

    The main concerns here are IgG4 antibodies. The video is a response to this paper suggesting that IgG4 could lead to T-cell exhaustion and, eventually, autoimmunity, but those suggestions are purely speculation at this time. We have no evidence to support those claims.

    Scientific understanding of these immune cells is still evolving. However, this paper looked at the issue of IgG4 and offered that they make up only a small part of the antibodies that target the COVID spike protein after vaccination. The paper concluded that, overall, these antibodies are unlikely to weaken the immunity of vaccinated people.

    We know perhaps a little more about T-cell exhaustion, as we see it in people who are constantly exposed to high levels of an antigen, such as HIV or cancer patients. We have no evidence that repeated vaccination could lead to that sort of T-cell dysfunction.

    This question is still being studied, and more research is needed to understand it. Finally, no evidence supports the idea that mRNA vaccines are causing autoimmunity, and some research even suggests that vaccination protects against it.

    Disclaimer: Science is always evolving and our understanding of these topics may have evolved since this was originally posted. Browse the latest information posted in Just the Facts Topics.

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