People who have had contact with another corona virus in the past could be immune to Covid-19: what is it about the thesis that is currently being circulated?
- Pre-existing conditions are generally considered a risk factor * because they favor severe Covid 19 courses.
- However, there is new knowledge that diseases that could alleviate the course of a coronavirus infection.
- For example, people who have been infected with cold corona viruses in the past should have immune protection.
When it comes to coronaviruses, everyone is thinking of the novel lung disease Covid-19, which is currently paralyzing entire countries. But there are countless types of coronaviruses that occur worldwide and trigger different diseases: "The family of coronaviruses includes a whole range of different pathogens. (...) About a third of the typical" colds "are caused by this largest of the RNA Viruses and one or the other "diarrhea" cause them ", informs the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research. A previous infection with these "conventional" coronaviruses could be a huge advantage when infected with Sars-CoV-2.
Immune to Covid-19 due to cold coronavirus infection?
In a study, Professor Andreas Thiel and his team from the Berlin Charité came to the conclusion that contact with cold coronaviruses could mean a certain immune protection against the novel pathogen Sars-CoV-2. Christian Drosten, head of virology at the Charité in Berlin, had confirmed in an interview with NDR Info that the results of the study indicate that people who had already been infected with other corona cold viruses have the body's own immune protection * against re-infection built with the same viruses. Since many corona viruses have similarities in structure, this could have a positive effect on infection with Sars-CoV-2 . Virologist Drosten on the study: "It has been seen that 34 percent of the patients have reactive T cells, although these patients have never been in contact with the Sars 2 virus. Now it is the case that these T cell stimulating sections can predict such a virus, and you can compare it to similar sections in other viruses, especially in the human cold coronavirus. There are four of them, and that’s done. It’s actually that you have to say "There are such sections in the human cold coronavirus. They could stimulate such T cells and at the same time they are to some extent consistent between the cold coronavirus and the SARS-2 virus". However, he confirms that based on this result, it cannot be concluded that 34 percent of the population are reasonably immune to Covid-19 because they have previously had contact with other corona viruses.
T cells are an important part of the body's defense. There are different types of white blood cells, as the German Center for Infection Research informs. Some of the T cells are programmed to recognize and kill the body's own cells that have been infected by viruses. Others activate B cells, which then produce antibodies .
Read also : Herd immunity as the only way out of the crisis? Medicines demand "controlled infection" .
Coronavirus: cross-immunity caused by other coronaviruses
The theory of cross immunity is still under investigation. This is the case when a person has survived an infection with the common cold coronaviruses, which usually trigger mild respiratory diseases, and this results in a certain immune protection against the novel lung disease Covid-19 *. Various scientists and researchers deal with cross immunity, such as the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research. It coordinates the CORESMA project ("COVID-19 Outbreak Response combining E-health, Serolomics, Modeling, Artificial Intelligence and Implementation Research").
One of the aims of the international project is to find out whether infections with other human coronaviruses lead to cross-immunity against the novel pathogen Sars-CoV-2 . The forecasts diverge. According to infection epidemiologist Ulrike Protzer Focus Online, it does not assume that these are protective antibodies that are shown in Elisa tests. This means that there is no cross immunity in their assessment.
You might also be interested in : Infected again? Coronavirus infection after surviving illness is so likely.
Unknown at which antibody concentration there is immune protection
According to current knowledge, if a coronavirus infection has passed through, it is assumed that immune protection will last one to two years after the infection, as pediatricians report online. This assumption is based on experience with other human corona viruses. "In all likelihood, after being infected with the Sars-CoV-2 virus, you are protected against re-infection for at least a few years, " said the President of the German Society for Immunology, Thomas Kamradt. According to what is known about similar viruses, the antibodies produced as a reaction by the body would protect against re-infection. However, due to a lack of long-term studies on the new disease Covid-19, researchers are still in the dark as to the extent of immune protection. This is shown by different expert opinions. Matthias Orth, medical director of the Institute for Laboratory Medicine at the Marienhospital Stuttgart explains that it is still unknown which concentration of antibodies * is protected from and how often new infections can occur.
More sources: www.lgl.bayern.de
Read more : Similarity between Covid-19 and "Russian Flu" in the 70s? Comparison of pandemics.
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