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For a study published in Nature Communications, researchers at Imperial College London observed outbreaks where cases of Covid-19 had occurred. More specifically, they followed 52 people living with people who had just been infected with the virus. They found that the infection had not spread to all other family members, and that some individuals continued to have negative PCR tests.
How to explain it? For the researchers, the natural defenses induced by a simple cold would offer a certain level of protection against Covid-19. The study concludes that individuals who previously contracted a cold had developed a “memory bank” of immune cells. These make them less vulnerable to Covid.
10 to 15% of colds
« We have found that high levels of pre-existing T cells, created by the body when infected with other human coronaviruses like the common cold, can protect against infection with COVID-19 »Explained Doctor Rhia Kundu, author of the study with the English media Sky News. But beware: as Rhia Kundu added, these conclusions are not enough to ignore the vaccine, which remains the most effective protection against severe forms of the disease.
Especially since, underlines the researcher, the evoked coronaviruses represent only 10 to 15% of colds. Counting on the fact that anyone who has recently caught a cold is automatically protected against Covid-19, would therefore be a ” big mistake ”.
However, by teaching us that lymphocytes T attack the proteins located inside the coronavirus and not the spike protein, located outside, this study provides important help for the design of future vaccines, lastingly effective against Covid-19. And that is good news.