Heart problems, Diabetes, lung diseases – in people with a pre-existing condition, the risk of a severe course of Covid-19 is particularly high, you count to the risk group.
The virologist Christian Drosten and his Team of the Charité hospital in Berlin have now made an exciting discovery.
In his NDRInfo Podcast ‘Coronvirus Update’ the expert reported that people who were already once on another ill, may even be immune to the novel Virus, Sars-CoV-2.
Research team makes new discovery on the immunity
As scientists, virologists, and experts are trying to gain more knowledge about Covid-19, to stem the pandemic.
Here, the researchers were also interested in the different courses of disease, and the question of why the Virus leads some people to mild gradients, and why other people don’t get infected in spite of contact with Infected even were.
Drosten and his Team seem to be the answer to these questions to be a bit closer to it. The researchers examined in a study of T-cells – blood cells that serve the immune system.
Here, T were investigated in the cells of already healed Covid-19-patients and patients who have not been infected yet, in detail.
Patients without infection developed reactive T-cells
According to the virologist, it is expected in the case of already infected patients have antibodies against the Coronavirus – a response to the Virus. In addition, T must be-cells are undetectable, the display of the cellular immunity, but also the ability of antibodies to influence and improve.
These T-cells could be detected only in the case of Covid-19-patients, like Drosten explained: “Surprisingly, it has been seen that in 34 percent of patients reactive T-be cells, even though they never had contact with the SARS-2 Virus.”
These T-cells stimulating sections were then compared with similar sections in other viruses, in particular, in the four human colds-coronaviruses,.
According to virologists, such sections could stimulate in the human common cold-corona virus the T-cells and to match in addition to a certain degree with the SARS-2 Virus.
Expert warns against too much Interpretation
A past disease with one of these four viruses could provide an explanation for a so-called background immunity to the new Coronavirus.
Despite the new findings, virologist warns of over-interpretation of the result: “It is not so that you can say that we have observed this phenomenon, so this could be a possible background immunity, in this study, 34% of patients, i.e. 34 percent of the population are immune. This is a typical fallacy.”
More reasons for a mild or asymptomatic course could be that patients were infected at the beginning of the Virus with a lower amount, or in better physical shape goods.
Drosten, adds: “A certain degree of background immunity does not, however, the number of patients who die. Because this number is a observation of reality. In this reality, a background of of immunity is also already in there.”
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Background immunity does not always
In the case of people who had a lot of contact with infected persons, but does not yet have plugged in, could it be that the infectious period was not sufficient or you got hit with no infectious dose of the Virus.
“If one were to extend this period of observation, then these individuals would infect still. All such statistical effects are certainly pregnant. Only additionally, it may be that these T-causes cell immunity is also a protection,” says Drosten more.
The question of background immunity is not fully understood, therefore, the virologist, stressed Drosten: “It is so that you can derive from a simple scientific Information is always the same what for the course of the epidemic, and the fate of the pandemic in Germany.”
A great destination to stay, therefore, is to keep the infection rate at a factor of 1. This would mean that each Infected infects only one other Person – a would like this but can’t produce naturally anyway.
Antonia Hagedorn
*The article “Coronavirus: Previous infections, could be published before the Covid-19” will protect you from FitForFun. Contact with the executives here.