A hidden immune feature may have spared unvaccinated people from COVID-19 infections
It's an antidote in the immune system.
A team of researchers from the University of Gothenburg has just taken another step toward understanding how the immune system develops resistance against COVID-19.
For six months, the researchers at the University’s Sahlgrenska Academy
investigated 156 employees from five primary care health facilities who were recruited during April and May 2020. None of these employees had been vaccinated against COVID-19, and the majority of them had to work with infected patients on a daily basis during the height of the pandemic.
They identified IgA (immunoglobulin A) in the respiratory tracts of several of the personnel who didn't catch COVID-19, which could mean they had an antidote in their immune systems all this time.
These antibodies are found naturally in mucous membrane secretions in the airways and gastrointestinal tract, where they protect the body by binding to viruses and other invading organisms.
An antidote in the immune system
COVID-19, an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has claimed the lives of
more than 6 million people since the start of the pandemic in early 2020. In fact, some researchers say the true number of lives lost to the COVID-19 by 31 December 2021
was 18.2 million, which is more than three times the official death toll.
A team of researchers from the University of Gothenburg has just taken another step toward understanding how the immune system develops resistance against COVID-19.
For six months, the researchers at the University’s Sahlgrenska Academy
investigated 156 employees from five primary care health facilities who were recruited during April and May 2020. None of these employees had been vaccinated against COVID-19, and the majority of them had to work with infected patients on a daily basis during the height of the pandemic.
They identified IgA (immunoglobulin A) in the respiratory tracts of several of the personnel who didn't catch COVID-19, which could mean they had an antidote in their immune systems all this time.
These antibodies are found naturally in mucous membrane secretions in the airways and gastrointestinal tract, where they protect the body by binding to viruses and other invading organisms.
An antidote in the immune system
COVID-19, an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has claimed the lives of
more than 6 million people since the start of the pandemic in early 2020. In fact, some researchers say the true number of lives lost to the COVID-19 by 31 December 2021
was 18.2 million, which is more than three times the official death toll.