Scientists have shown that there are seven “forms of disease” in mild Covid-19, and that the new coronavirus infection leaves significant changes in the immune system even after 10 weeks, findings that can help in the treatment of patients and in the development of a powerful vaccine.
The study, published in the journal Allergy, which included 109 recovered Covid-19 patients and 98 healthy individuals in the control group, showed that various Covid-19-related symptoms occur in groups.
In the research, scientists, including those at the Vienna Medical University in Austria, identified seven groups of symptoms including “flu-like symptoms” with fever, chills, fatigue and cough, “symptoms similar to the common cold” with rhinitis. , sneezing, dry throat and nasal congestion, and “joint and muscle pain.”
They said patients may also experience symptoms of “inflammation of the eyes and mucous membranes,” “lung problems” with pneumonia and shortness of breath, “gastrointestinal problems” including diarrhea, nausea and headache, and “loss of sense of smell and taste and other symptoms “.
“In the latter group, we found that loss of smell and taste predominantly affects people with a ‘young immune system’, as measured by the number of immune cells (T lymphocytes) that have recently migrated from the thymus gland.” said Winfried F. Pickl, a co-author of the study from the Medical University of Vienna.
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“This means that we were able to clearly distinguish the systemic forms (groups one and three) from the organ-specific forms (groups six and seven) of the primary disease Covid-19,” Pickl said.
From the analysis, the scientists established that Covid-19 leaves detectable changes for a long time in the blood of recovered patients, very similar to a fingerprint.
Citing one example, they said that the number of granulocytes, which are otherwise responsible in the immune system for fighting bacterial pathogens, is significantly lower than normal in the Covid-19 group.
“However, both the CD4 and CD8 T cell compartments developed memory cells and the CD8 T cells remained strongly activated. This indicates that the immune system is still intensely compromised with disease several weeks after initial infection.” Pickl explained.
According to the researchers, elevated levels of antibody-producing immune cells were detected in the blood of recovered patients.
The higher the fever of the affected patient during the mild course of the disease, the higher the levels of antibodies against the virus, they said.
“Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the disease and assist us in the development of potential vaccines, as we now have access to promising biomarkers and can track even better,” the scientists said.
“Above all, the study shows that the human immune system” doubles “when defending against Covid-19 with the combined action of immune cells and antibodies,” they noted.
According to the study, immune cells can also memorize certain “movements” of the virus and respond to them.
“Now it’s about implementing these findings and using them for the development of highly effective Covid-19 vaccines,” the researchers said.
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