[ad_1]
© Paul Kane / Getty Images AsiaPac / Getty Images
PERTH, AUSTRALIA – APRIL 20: Nurse Heather Hoppe receives a flu shot in the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital Trial Clinic on April 20, 2020 in Perth, Australia. Healthcare workers in Western Australia are taking part in a new trial to test whether an existing TB vaccine can help reduce their chances of contracting COVID-19. 2,000 frontline staff from Fiona Stanley, Sir Charles Gairdner and Perth Children’s Hospital are participating in the research trial, which will see half of the participants receive the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine in addition to their flu shot, while the other half get the regular flu shot. The BCG vaccine was originally developed to fight tuberculosis, but it is hoped that it could help reduce the risk of contracting coronavirus, decrease the severity of symptoms, and boost long-term immunity. The BRACE trial is led by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. (Photo by Paul Kane / Getty Images)
A recent batch of studies, many of which are at an early stage and have yet to be peer reviewed, show humans have a ‘robust’ immune response to Covid-19 that can protect them from infection additional, even if they had mild symptoms. It is still unclear how long this protection will last, but studies indicate that it could last for months.
A leading immunologist says the results suggest people won’t have to endure repeat coronavirus infections. It also provides evidence that a vaccine could protect people for more than a short time.
“The hopes I had seem to be coming true from these early studies,” said Dr. Ian Lipkin, director of the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.
At the start of the pandemic, some scientists wondered how long the body will remember the infection and continue to make antibodies – the proteins the body makes to fight an infection – to protect it. Studies have shown that these antibodies decrease over time and that different people produce different numbers of antibodies. It is not known what type and level of antibody response is needed to provide protection.
© Provided by CNN
antibody immunity coronavirus orig_00011602.jpg
“This is a buildup of additional information that makes people feel more comfortable with the idea that we’re going to have immunity that will last longer,” Lipkin told CNN. “We don’t know this for a fact, but there are a few things that are interesting that gave me a basis for optimism.”
One of the studies showed that T cells appear to be activated by this new coronavirus. T cells are important immune cells that stimulate various arms of the immune system and also attack and kill cells already infected with a virus.
Another study that looked at blood samples from donors found that a large portion of the population, between 20% and 50% of people in parts of the United States, may have T cells that recognize the new coronavirus, even if that person has never been infected. . We still don’t know why people have it. This may be called cross-protection against other coronaviruses that cause the common cold. What scientists still don’t know is whether it provides protection against Covid-19, but it has potential.
“So that’s very good news and it’s optimistic,” Lipkin said. “You know, it’s a little blue sky we were looking for.”
Jennifer Gommerman, who worked on one of the first studies, found that the antibody response to this new coronavirus is “actually quite long-lasting.”
© Provided by CNN
antibody immunity coronavirus orig_00002305.jpg
“The immune response does exactly what we would expect,” Gommerman, an immunologist at the University of Toronto, told CNN. “At least about four months, that is, as far as most of us can measure at this point in the pandemic,” Gommerman said.
Gommerman said there was some breakdown in the level of antibodies, as one would expect in a normal immune response, but it doesn’t break down.
Gommerman said another study from the work of immunologist Marion Pepper at the University of Washington reveals that the immune response is not a “one-ride pony.” Instead, it’s like a ‘Swiss army knife with a lot of different tools’ to tackle the novel coronavirus.
Pepper’s study shows that some of the T cells form memory T cells that can hang around and help provide protection in case a person encounters the new coronavirus again. From studies of SARS, another coronavirus, research shows that the memory T cell response lasts a long time.
Gommerman said that since scientists haven’t seen a case of reinfection, even though the pandemic is so widespread, it strongly suggests that the body’s immune system is working well against this threat and reinfection is less likely.
“So that’s good news,” Gommerman said. “This means that people infected with this new coronavirus should have the ability to mount what is called a memory immune response to protect themselves against infection.”
What remains unclear is how long the human body’s response to the new coronavirus can provide protection. Since it is only seven months after the start of the pandemic, these studies cannot determine how long the protection lasts, but at least one shows that a mild infection provided three months of protection and suggests that the protection will last. probably longer.
“The hardest part about sustainability is that it’s a time dependent measure,” said David Masopust, a researcher at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Minnesota. “We would really like to know what that looks like in five years. Unfortunately, we can’t predict that today,” added Masopust. The research results are what scientists would expect from a coronavirus, he said.
“What the research is showing us is encouraging – that things look normal in the sense that you have what we call humoral immunity, or antibodies,” Masopust told CNN.
“And you develop B cells, which can differentiate into cells that produce antibodies, and it looks like you have T cells that seemed durable, as long as this study was able to look at that,” he said. added. “The bad or the sad news would be if they got something different from these studies.”
Masopust said that while these studies are encouraging, it is still not clear whether the memory of the immune system can actually protect people from infection. “Again, this is a real world experience which, unfortunately, will be performed by those in contact with the coronavirus,” Masopust said.
Gommerman said the results of this robust immune response mean that any future vaccine should also provide protection for a period of time.
“This long-lasting immunity that we’re seeing means that when we come up with a well-designed and safe vaccine, a vaccine can mimic what the virus does,” Gommerman said. “People have to take it when it happens.”
© Go Nakamura / Getty Images
HOUSTON, TX – JULY 28: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Medical staff treat a patient in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at United Memorial Medical Center on July 28, 2020 in Houston, Texas. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have increased since Texas reopened, pushing intensive care units to full capacity and raising concerns about an increase in the number of deaths as the virus spreads. (Photo by Go Nakamura / Getty Images)
© Chandan Khanna / AFP / Getty Images
Thomas Hansler, 54, receives a COVID-19 vaccination from Yaquelin De La Cruz at America’s Research Centers in Hollywood, Fla. On August 13, 2020 (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP via Getty Images)
[ad_2]
Source link