"Superhuman" immunity to COVID-19
Miscellaneous / / September 08, 2021
Over the past few months, during research, scientists have found that some people have an incredibly strong immune response to SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. And the point is not only that their bodies produce a huge number of antibodies, but in their quality - it is reported that antibodies are highly flexible and able to fight both existing types of coronavirus, but with a high degree of probability will be effective against types that appear in the future.
Paul Benyash, a virologist at Rockefeller University who has spearheaded a number of studies on the topic, writesHigh genetic barrier to escape from human polyclonal SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies next: "There is reason to believe that these people will be reasonably well protected from most - and perhaps from all - variants of SARS-CoV-2 that we are likely to see in the foreseeable future."
In the same study, Beniash and his team found that the antibodies of these people were able to neutralize six variants of pathogens tested - including strains delta and beta, as well as variants of the virus found in bats, lizards, and even SARS-CoV-1, which caused the first coronavirus pandemic in 2002-2004. This is surprising, given that the 20-year-old virus is vastly different from modern variants.
Such powerful immunity could be obtained by those who were exposed to the "hybrid" effect of the virus. They were ill with COVID-19 in 2020, and in 2021 they were vaccinated with an RNA vaccine (more precisely, species that use mRNA as an active part). What's more, another studyPan-Sarbecovirus Neutralizing Antibodies in BNT162b2-Immunized SARS-CoV-1 Survivors confirms that those who were exposed to SARS-CoV-1 in the early 2000s, did not have COVID-19, but were vaccinated, develop antibodies with similar properties.
Having to get sick first in order to get strong immunity when vaccinated is the main snag. In addition, there is still insufficient data to say how high the chance of getting such protection is in a person who has been ill and vaccinated. A couple more unanswered questions are whether the process works in reverse (first vaccination, then illness) and whether a third dose of vaccine will help achieve a similar effect.
But immunologist John Werry of the University of Pennsylvania believes there is a chance that antibodies will improve after the third vaccination. His researchmRNA Vaccination Induces Durable Immune Memory to SARS-CoV-2 with Continued Evolution to Variants of Concern, the results of which were published at the end of August, shows that after the second dose of the vaccine had not been sick people begin to develop more flexible antibodies that are better able to cope with different types pathogens. So, according to the scientist, the third vaccination will help the antibodies evolve further, so that the body will be able to cope with new types of disease.
In other words, new research once again confirms the benefits of vaccination - both for those who have recovered and for those who were able to avoid infection.
Read also🧐
- Is it worth getting vaccinated against coronavirus
- Compulsory vaccination against coronavirus: where was it introduced, is it possible to refuse and what threatens anti-vaccines
- What to expect after coronavirus vaccination
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