UK study suggests T cells may be enough to protect against COVID-19

UK

Reuters staff

LONDON (Reuters) – High levels of so-called ‘T cells’ that respond to coronavirus could 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 is part of a healthy immune system, are believed to be essential in protecting against infection with the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus and may 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 participant with an elevated T cell response developed a symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection when the researchers followed them.

This compares to 20 confirmed infections among participants who saw a poor T cell response.

“This suggests that people with a higher number of T cells recognizing SARS-CoV-2 may have some level of protection against COVID-19, although more research is needed to confirm this,” said David Wyllie , consultant microbiologist at Public Health England.

The study was pre-printed and was not published in a journal or peer review.

The researchers suggested that the importance of T cells in the immune response could mean that serological tests to detect antibodies would not paint a complete picture of those at the lowest risk of infection in the population.

They also said that levels of SARS-CoV-2 sensitive T cells decrease with age, especially in the absence of antibodies, perhaps explaining why older people are at higher risk of COVID-19.

Oxford Immunotec, which has a platform designed to measure T-cell response, has been asked by Britain to provide tests to assess different coronavirus vaccine candidates.