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LONDON (Reuters) – High levels of so-called “T cells” that respond to the coronavirus may be enough to offer protection against infection, an English study said on Tuesday, adding to evidence of the crucial role they play in immunity. to COVID. -19.
T cells, a type of white blood cell that are part of a healthy immune system, are believed to be essential in protecting against infection by the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus and could provide longer-term immunity than antibodies.
The study of nearly 3,000 people, conducted by Oxford Immunotec and Public Health England (PHE), found that no participants with a high T-cell response developed a symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection when the researchers followed them.
That compares to 20 confirmed infections among participants who saw low T-cell responses.
“This suggests that people with increased numbers of T cells that recognize SARS-CoV-2 may have some level of protection against COVID-19, although more research is required to confirm this,” said David Wyllie, consultant microbiologist at Public Health. England.
The study was a preprint and has not been published in a journal or peer reviewed.
The researchers suggested that the importance of T cells in the immune response could mean that serological tests for antibodies would not show a complete picture of who was at the lowest risk of infection in the population.
They also said that levels of SARS-CoV-2-sensitive T cells decreased with age, especially in the absence of antibodies, possibly explaining why older people are at higher risk for COVID-19.
Oxford Immunotec, which has a platform designed to measure the response of T cells, has been contracted by Britain to provide tests to evaluate different coronavirus vaccine candidates.
Report from Alistair Smout; Edited by Jan Harvey
