A new study suggests that a small portion of the population has antibodies that respond to the coronavirus behind Covid-19 without responding.Antibodies Avoid previous conflicts with common colds caused by related viruses
Research is the latest to suggest that some people may have a degree of immunity to the coronavirus. But while it is possible that these findings may help explain some of the epidemic trends, such as children being less susceptible to serious illness, it is still unclear how protective these borrowed immunity may actually be.
New study, Published In Science on Friday, blood samples collected from adults and children in the UK prior to the known outbreak of the epidemic in December 2019, as well as SARS-CV-2, are responsible for Covid-19 from early epidemiologists who tested negative for coronavirus. These samples were compared with those who confirmed Covid-19.
As expected, most confirmed cases had different groups of antibodies ready to respond to the spike protein of the virus, which is used to infect cells by the virus. These antibodies come from all three types that fight viral infections (IgG, IgM, IgA). But in some uninfected patients, including patients who have recently been confirmed to have a common cold coronavirus infection, the researchers also found antibodies that appeared to respond to SARS-Cavi-2. “Our results from multiple independent cohorts have shown the presence of antibodies recognizing SARS-COV-2 in inadvisable individuals,” the researchers wrote.
G / O media can get commission
Antibodies found in uninfected people were clearly different in Covid-19 patients. They were almost all IgG, the most common antibody produced by the immune system. They were found only in a small percentage of adults. Of the 302 adult samples, only 16 (5.26%) carried these antibodies. However, that was not so true for children: the researchers found these antibodies in 21 of the 48 samples (44%) collected from children aged 1 to 16 years.
The authors speculate that higher levels of cross-reactive antibodies found in children may help explain why they contract Covid-19 more than the general population, or why they generally experience much less serious illness. Children have always been sick with the common cold, and they have found evidence that recent infections by other human coronaviruses may explain the high levels of antibodies in children.
The study to detect these cross-reactive antibodies in humans is probably the first. There is yet another research Shown Some people also carry a T cell that is another crucial part of the immune system, usually borrowed from a cold infection that can react to SARS-CoV-2. Together, these studies suggest that some people may actually have an antiviral immune response to Covid-19. But there is reason to be cautious in interpreting the results.
“Even though a number of groups have shown cross-reactivity, we still know nothing about defense. Kevin Ng, a PhD student at the Francis Creek Institute in London and lead author of the virus research, said the epidemic shows that cross-reactivity is unlikely to prevent infection or spread – at best it can alter symptoms.
There are people who have argued that T cell studies show that many people in the world are protected from epidemics, often to justify their stance against aggressive actions to prevent the spread of viral disease. However, the scientists behind the research have raised their voices Spoke About these claims. They note that there is still much uncertainty about how these cross-reactive T cells can affect a person’s response to infection, and that having these cells will significantly prevent a person from catching or spreading the Covid-1 catch. In other words, these are not T cells Getting More quickly for the so-called herd immunity.
Another reason to be careful: there is Possible Having cross-reactive antibodies may in some cases increase the risk of developing a more serious illness, which is known to have occurred with the original SARS virus.
In any case, more research is needed to confirm anything. Aside from helping to explain why some groups of people may be less susceptible to Covid-19, researchers speculate that understanding the ins and outs of this borrowed immunity could one day lead to a better vaccine against current and future coronaviruses.
“We are now working to find out why some people make cross-reactive antibodies and why some do not,” the NGA said. “If we can estimate this, we can use that information in vaccines to stimulate the immune response, which in principle targets all coronaviruses.”
.
