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Corona: Are there people who cannot become infected? Immunologist talks about phenomenon

2022-05-03T03:13:00.609Z


Corona: Are there people who cannot become infected? Immunologist talks about phenomenon Created: 05/03/2022, 05:05 By: Martina Lippl Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 under a microscope. © imago Corona test, negative - why do some people not become infected with the corona virus? The answer to this question is complex, as immunologist Carsten Watzl explains. Munich – One has it, the other doesn't have


Corona: Are there people who cannot become infected?

Immunologist talks about phenomenon

Created: 05/03/2022, 05:05

By: Martina Lippl

Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 under a microscope.

© imago

Corona test, negative - why do some people not become infected with the corona virus?

The answer to this question is complex, as immunologist Carsten Watzl explains.

Munich – One has it, the other doesn't have it despite close contact.

Some people actually seem to resist Corona.

It's a phenomenon that baffles experts.

Researchers around the world are looking for an answer to this question.

"So far there have actually only been hypotheses on this question," says Carsten Watzl, professor of immunology and head of the research area immunology at the Leibniz Institute for Labor Research at the TU Dortmund (IfADo) in an interview with the

world.

A clear distinction must also be made between contagious or not contagious, and becoming ill or not becoming ill.

A British study at Imperial College in London provided some insights.

Researchers infected healthy volunteers with Corona.

The so-called Human Challenge Study caused a stir, but was controversial in advance for ethical reasons.

But for the first time, the scientists were able to observe people during the entire course of infection – incubation period and symptoms.

An amazing result: Of the 36 study participants, only 18 became infected. The test subjects were actively administered virus droplets through their noses.

Antibodies and T cells - existing immunity against the coronavirus

Study author Christopher Chiu explained in the British

The Guardian

: “The virus levels did not rise high enough to trigger detectable levels of antibodies, T cells or inflammatory factors in the blood.” Chiu attributed genetic factors or an existing immunity to similar pathogens a successful defense.

Corona: Three factors can have an impact on infection

  • genetics

  • blood type

  • immune system

Corona infection: the defense system of the T cells - some react faster

The immune system is complex.

In the event of an infection, the immune system tries to form antibodies against the virus in order to neutralize the pathogen.

If the virus enters the human cell, T cells are activated.

For example, there are T cells that can recognize and kill body cells that have been infected by a virus.

They are part of the so-called acquired immune system.

Other cells activate so-called B cells, defense substances that form antibodies. 

These T cells can recognize pathogens and fight them.

Sars-CoV-2 belongs to the family of corona viruses, which have been known as common cold viruses since the 1960s.

The immune system could also remember contact with the similar virus.

In this case, doctors speak of cross-active T cells.

“There are T cells that are probably relics of previous coronavirus infections.

They are able to see a Sars-CoV-2 or fragments of it," says the immunologist Watzl.

The percentage of people who have such cross-reactive T cells varies from study to study between 30 and 40 percent.

According to Watzl, previous infections with the corona cold viruses do not actually offer any protection against Sars-CoV-2.

In addition, messenger substances called interferons also play a role in the immune system.

"When cells recognize that the virus has entered them, they produce interferon," explains the immunologist.

The neighboring cells would be alarmed by the messenger substances and would stop producing proteins.

Blood group 0 also seems to be less likely to be infected with corona.

A study by the French University of Nantes suggests that there is also a connection to the blood group of those involved in corona transmission.

(ml)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-05-03

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