New Scientist: We finally know why some people seem immune to catching covid-19 [View all]

[FakeNoose]

Unique cell responses mean some people may be immune to catching the coronavirus, even if they are unvaccinated



Link: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2436182-we-finally-know-why-some-people-seem-immune-to-catching-covid-19/

Archived (no paywall) link: https://archive.ph/CHLbN

Deliberately exposing people to the coronavirus behind covid-19 in a so-called challenge study has helped us understand why some people seem to be immune to catching the infection. As part of the first such covid-19 study, carried out in 2021, a group of international researchers looked at 16 people with no known health conditions who had neither tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus nor been vaccinated against it.

The original variant of SARS-CoV-2 was sprayed up their noses. Nasal and blood samples were taken before this exposure and then six to seven times over the 28 days after. They also had SARS-CoV-2 tests twice a day.

The participants fell into three groups, says team member Sarah Teichmann at Cambridge Stem Cell Institute in the UK. In one group, six people tested positive in both of their daily tests for more than two days, while also having symptoms. In another, three participants tested positive in one of their twice-a-day-tests, but not the other, for no more than two days, without symptoms. In the final group, seven people consistently tested negative for the coronavirus. In total, the researchers looked at more than 600,000 blood and nasal cells across all the individuals.

They found that in the second and third groups, the participants produced interferon – a substance that helps the immune system fight infections – in their blood before it was produced in their nasopharynx, the upper part of the nose behind the throat where the nasal samples were taken from. The interferon response, when it did occur in the nasopharynx, was actually higher in the noses of those in the second group than the third, says Teichmann.

- more at link -

Wow! This sounds like a breakthrough ... Hurray for science!