Why some people never caught Covid-19, revealing study finds

“Unbeaten.” This is what thousands of people feel even at the worst time of the pandemic – when infections became excessively widespread – were not infected by COVID-19[feminine . At that time, no doctor or scientist could explain why this phenomenon was occurring.

However, a new study seems to have the answer. Published in the magazine Natureresearch from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, University College London (UCL) and Imperial College London analyzed the immune system response of different healthy adults against the virus.

And, just like what happened in real life, In the experiment, several participants did not they infected by SARS-CoV-2 despite having been exposed to the virus.

Why are there people who don’t catch Covid? This is the explanation given by scientists.

As established Deutsche Welle This study provides “the most comprehensive timeline” to date of how the body responds to SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the worst pandemic in recent times and which is still circulating.

To determine why some people have never been infected with the virus, despite being exposed to it, The team chose 36 volunteers, all healthy adults, with no history of Covid-19.

All received the virus through the nose. Researchers immediately began closely monitoring their blood, immune cells, and general infection tracking.

They then used “single cell sequencing” to see how cells behave during the immune response to Covid-19. It was in this process that they found convincing answers.

There were people in the study who They cleared the virus immediately and did not have a typical widespread immune response. Rather, his body’s reaction was “innate” and “subtle, never seen before.”

For its part, Those who were infected had a rapid immune response in the blood, but slower in the nose, which allowed the virus to take hold in this part.

The difference between the two groups of people was that those who were not infected with Covid-19 had high levels of activity of a gene – known as HLA-DQA2 – which would have helped prevent prolonged infection.

“These findings shed new light on the early and crucial events that allow the virus to take hold or disappear quickly before symptoms develop. “We now understand the whole range of immune responses much better,” said Dr. Dr Marko Nikolic lead author of the study.

Furthermore, the expert emphasized that with the results they will be able to “provide a basis for developing potential treatments and vaccines that mimic these natural protective responses.” »