Thought of the Day - July 21 - Good News on Immunity

As we know people have a wide variety of reactions to SARS-CoV-2. This seems to be based on factors like age, comorbidities, individual genetics, viral load ingested, and also past exposure to related viruses. It is this last factor that has been seeing recent attention.

The human antibody defense system is quite complex. It seems as well as various antibodies (e.g. IgM, IgG that can be detected with serology tests), we have something called T-cells that also capture information about past exposures so we can more rapidly and effectively respond if exposed again. This is important. It seems that antibodies associated with coronaviruses disappear in a matter of weeks or months (Thought of the Day - June 26 - Worrying Signs Concerning Immunity), yet a new study has confirmed that people that had SARS, almost eighteen years ago, appear to be immunity to SARS-CoV-2 and thus do not contract COVID-19. The key to this seems to lie with the T-cells.

This is really good news as it implies herd immunity is possible (ideally accelerated with the help of a vaccine).

Cheers

Cliff