Your memory T-cells that protect you from the common cold may also confer immunity to SARS-CoV-2 – Part 2

Your memory T-cells that protect you from the common cold may also confer immunity to SARS-CoV-2 – Part 2

This is a follow up post to the post I made in May based on research in July 2020 before the vaccines were available.

Without going into it in detail, the new research supports the old research that indicates that your own immune system does a pretty good job at taking care of you.

The new research was done in India.

Immune Memory in Mild COVID-19 Patients and Unexposed Donors Reveals Persistent T Cell Responses After SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Comparing the UK with India:

Peak deaths in the UK occurred on around 23rd January 2021 at 18.37 daily deaths per million people, when just over 10% of the population had received at least one vaccination dose.

Peak deaths in India occurred on around 21st May 2021 at 3.01 daily deaths per million people, also when just over 10% of the population had received at least one dose.

That’s a big difference as reflected in the second graph below, and surely not all down to inaccurate data collection in India as some might claim.

Please contrast

(i) the graph above showing 3.01 versus 18.37 daily deaths per million people with

(ii) the (overblown) horrific headlines in the press concerning the Delta variant contagion in India such as this one from the BBC

It seems India did much better despite both countries being at the same stage of vaccination coverage.

This is an extract from the conclusion of the new research

Indian continent has seen high burden of the COVID-19 incidences; however, the case fatality rates are extremely low. Whether high magnitude of cross-reactive CD4+ T cells are contributing to this less severe outcome needs to be addressed in the prospective cohort before and after COVID-19. The knowledge on implication of cross-reactive CD4+ T cells in the disease outcome and in establishment of immunological memory is crucial for the development and implementation of COVID-19 vaccines.

Why does nobody seem to be questioning this difference; are Indian immune systems better than UK immune systems; is it due to different levels of obesity in each country; are alternative anti-viral treatments and therapies being employed? Whatever the reason, the research seems to indicate that vaccine developers have still got a lot to learn from natural immunity systems.