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Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute and University College London found that some people, especially children, have antibodies to them Covid-19. Even though they have never been infected with the virus.
These antibodies may form from exposure corona virus others that cause the common cold. However, the flu virus has structural similarities with SARS-CoV-2 which causes Covid-19.
The study, published on Friday (6/11), states that antibodies formed when fighting a previous flu infection remain in the blood for some time. If the infection occurs again, antibodies will return to form to fight the virus.
Researchers also developed a more sensitive Covid-19 antibody test following the discovery. The follow-up study aims to see how well the test performs by comparing the blood of Covid-19 patients with healthy people.
The results show that some people who are not exposed to Covid-19 have antibodies in their blood. To confirm this, they analyzed more than 300 blood samples collected before the pandemic between 2011 and 2018.
Nearly all blood samples have antibodies that react with the common cold coronavirus. It shows that everyone has been exposed to the virus in their life.
Even so, one in 20 adult volunteers also had antibodies that cross-reacted with SARS-CoV-2. In particular, cross-reactive antibodies are frequently found in blood samples of children aged 6-16 years.
Lead author and graduate student at the Retroviral Immunology Laboratory at Crick Kevin Ng said the results suggest that children are more likely to have cross-reactive antibodies than adults. Even so, more research is needed to understand why this is the case.
One possibility is that children are more likely to be exposed to the coronavirus, which causes the common cold. “At a higher level, observations in children can help explain why they are less likely to become seriously ill with Covid-19. However, there is no evidence that antibodies prevent infection or spread of SARS-CoV-2, “said Kevin was quoted from Scitechdaily.com on Friday (13/11).
Researchers are also continuing to test the antibodies they find in the blood of people who are not infected with Covid-19. This is to ensure they are able to neutralize the virus.
So far, they found that cross-reactive antibodies target the S2 subunit of the spike protein on the viral surface. Senior author and group leader of the Retroviral Immunology Laboratory at Crick George Kassiotis explained that the corona virus consists of two parts with different tasks.
The S1 subunit allows the virus to attach to cells and it is relatively present in the corona virus. The S2 subunit allows the virus to enter the cell. “Our work shows that the S2 subunit is similar enough between the common cold coronavirus and SARS CoV-2 that some antibodies work against both,” said George.
Previously, researchers had thought that antibodies act on S1 which could block infection. However, there is currently evidence that some S2 antibodies can be just as effective.
“This is interesting because understanding the basis of this activity could lead to vaccines that work against various coronaviruses, including the common cold and SARS-CoV-2 and other types of pandemics in the future,” he said.
Researchers at Imperial College London and University College London are carrying out a large study to reveal the role of different antibodies and other immune defenses in protecting Covid-19 and how badly people get sick.
On the other hand, only a few people naturally have antibodies against Covid-19. Meanwhile, a number of other people have been confirmed to be infected with the corona virus.
Therefore, the Covid-19 Handling Task Force always reminds the public to always carry out the 3M health protocol, namely using masks, washing hands, and maintaining distance. This protocol has been proven effective in preventing the transmission of Covid-19.
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