Asymptomatic diseases and vaccination breakthroughs only since COVID-19? Incorrect!

The claim is circulating that COVID-19 is the first disease that even vaccinated people can become ill with. But this is not the case!

Both in text form and as a sharepic, it is repeatedly argued that COVID-19 is not only a disease that you “ don’t have ,” but that it is also the first disease in medical history that vaccinated people could also become ill with.
Apparently, however, those spreading this claim have never looked into the history of medicine, because asymptomatic diseases and vaccination breakthroughs are not new phenomena.

The claim

Here is the claim that keeps circulating as a text and as a sharepic:

The claim in full:

“For the first time in history, you can transmit a disease you don’t have to people who have been vaccinated against it.”

In principle there are two claims in the sentence:

1. COVID-19 is the first disease that you don't have (symptomless)
2. COVID-19 is the first disease that even vaccinated people can become ill with

Asymptomatic diseases are not new

A distinction is made between symptomatic (person is ill and has symptoms), asymptomatic (person is ill, has no symptoms and will not get any later) and presymptomatic (person is ill and does yet any symptoms).

With COVID-19, one of the three diseases can occur very individually, although according to the RKI, is rather atypical; at least mild symptoms, which can later become severe symptoms, are almost always evident.

In this respect, the claim “ the first disease you don’t have ” is misleading: There are cases in which people get COVID-19 and don’t get any symptoms at all, but these are not typical.

COVID-19 is also not the first disease that can occur without any symptoms.
The best example is the flu ( influenza ): According to a study from England, up to 75 percent of all influenza illnesses have no symptoms, but still contribute significantly to the infection process.

HIV disease often lasts for a few months to 10 years without any symptoms , which is one reason why the number of infections is not falling significantly: The RKI assumes that around 15,000 people in Germany alone are infected with HIV , without knowing it.

Vaccination breakthroughs are also not new

Vaccinations do not offer 100% protection, and that has never been the case. A so-called vaccination breakthrough for COVID-19 occurs when a PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection with symptoms is detected in a fully vaccinated person.

However, it does not count as a vaccination breakthrough if a fully vaccinated person is infected according to a PCR test but does not show any symptoms - which occurs much more often in vaccinated people. That's why vaccinations are carried out: an infection is not only shorter, but also far less dangerous.

Vaccination breakthroughs can also occur for many other diseases.
According to the RKI, in the case of measles, occur due to the lack of an immune response (e.g. due to incorrect storage of the vaccine) or due to a low antibody level, but these are rare and difficult to detect because the course of the disease is usually very mild.

Whooping cough is also a disease that can occur despite full vaccination, which to a debate about the effectiveness of the vaccine in 2016, as 22 percent of fully vaccinated children in a kindergarten fell ill, vaccination protection was estimated at only 45 percent.

As a third example, there is also chickenpox , in which vaccination breakthroughs can also occur , but which are not only rare, but are also milder and have a lower risk of complications.

Conclusion

COVID-19 is not the first disease that can be asymptomatic and for which vaccination breakthroughs have occurred. On the contrary, there will be even more vaccination breakthroughs, which is mathematically completely normal: the more people are vaccinated, the more frequently vaccination breakthroughs will occur.

To make it clearer: the more people wear seatbelts when driving, the more people are seriously injured in accidents despite wearing a seatbelt. But that doesn't mean that seat belts are useless.

The claim is therefore factually false.

Further sources: APA , AFP , Federal Ministry of Health

Also interesting:

Study after study turns out to be fake, but people still take ivermectin for COVID-19.

• Ivermectin sold out – people still have Corona but are worm-free!