Why are there people who have not had COVID-19 but are immune to the coronavirus?
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Scientists have found that there are people who have some immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, despite not having had COVID-19. What it depends on? A team of researchers from Germany and the UK found the likely cause of this situation.

  1. Healthy study participants found SARS-COV-2 responsive T cells, even though they had not passed COVID-19
  2. Scientists believe that these specific T lymphocytes developed “possibly from previous infections with endemic coronaviruses”. This phenomenon is called cross resistance
  3. Almost everyone in the world has had a chance to deal with the coronavirus at some time, and because they all belong to the same family, some cross-resistance develops, doctors explain

We still don’t know much about resistance to the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus. Scientists ask themselves many questions. How is it that COVID-19 is a lethal threat for some, and simply an infection for others? Does being sick give you permanent immunity? Why are there people who have some immunity to the coronavirus but have not had the disease?

  1. Why does the coronavirus kill some and run like a cold in others?

The last issue was examined by scientists from several institutions in Germany and Great Britain. The results of the study they conducted were published by the prestigious scientific journal “Nature”. 68 healthy adults aged 20-64 years were taken, and blood samples were also taken from 18 COVID-19 patients aged 21-81 years. As it turned out?

  1. COVID-19 Coronavirus Coverage

Where does immunity come from in people who have not had COVID-19?

Coronavirus-responsive T lymphocytes (cells of the immune system that stimulate and regulate the immune response, i.e. the body’s defensive responses to the appearance of an antigen) were detected in 83% of respondents. COVID-19 patients. However, what is most interesting, they were also found in the blood of 35 percent. healthy study participants. This suggests that these people’s immune systems may have already had experience fighting a similar infection and could use it in the event of SARS-COV-2 infection.

Scientists believe that these specific T lymphocytes developed “possibly from previous infections with endemic coronaviruses”. They use the “knowledge” they have acquired in contact with them to fight pathogens of a similar structure. This process is called cross resistance.

In other words, prior exposure of the immune system to a given pathogen, in this case the coronavirus, changes the body’s response to another pathogen, most often closely related to the previous one.

  1. Some people are immune to the coronavirus. How it’s possible?

“Almost every person in the world has encountered the coronavirus”

For scientists, therefore, it is not important why these people had such T cells. The most important issue seems to be determining what role they play in the course of COVID-19.

The research certainly needs to be continued, emphasizes Dr. Amesh Adalja, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, who was not involved in the study.

For example, it is known that children and younger adults often have COVID-19 relatively mildly. ‘One hypothesis might be that statistically speaking, T cells may be more numerous or more active at a younger age than in older people,’ says Dr Adalja. The scientist points out that the presence of SARS-COV-2 T lymphocytes does not protect people from infection. However, does it affect the intensity of the infection? – It looks like it is possible – says the scientist.

Dr. Amesh Adalja was not surprised to see cross-resistance in subjects who were not exposed to SARS-CoV-2. – This is the seventh discovered human coronavirus, and four of them are responsible for 25 percent. our colds – says the scientist. “ Almost everyone in the world has had a history of dealing with the coronavirus, and because they all belong to the same family, some kind of cross-resistance develops, ” he explains.

  1. Why does the coronavirus kill some and run like a cold in others?

The article in Nature is not the first to suggest that some people may exhibit some level of immunity to the new coronavirus. Another text published in Nature in early July mentions five previous studies. They found evidence that some people in different parts of the world have T cells that recognize SARS-CoV-2.

You may be interested in:

  1. Chinese scientist: Wuhan officials tried to “hide” the truth about COVID-19
  2. What is the most limiting of the spread of the coronavirus? This study gives a clear answer
  3. When are you at the greatest risk of becoming infected with the coronavirus? Scientists have created the COVID-19 risk index

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