mBio: Can people infected with coronavirus prevent COVID-19?

Oct 1, 2020 /--- new study suggests that past colds may provide some protection against COVID-19.
the study was published by infectious disease specialists at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
study also suggests that immunity to COVID-19 may last a long time, perhaps even for a lifetime.
study, published in mBio, showed that SARS-CoV-2 induces the formation of memory B cells, long-lived immune cells, which detect pathogens and produce antibodies to destroy them.
the next time the pathogen tries to enter the body, those memory B cells can function more quickly to clear the infection before it begins.
(Photo: www.pixabay.com) because memory B cells can survive for decades, it protects COVID-19 survivors from subsequent infections, but further research is needed to prove it.
study is also the first to report cross-reactions between memory B cells, meaning that B cells that have attacked other coronavirus also appear to recognize SARS-CoV-2.
study authors believe that this may mean that anyone infected with common coronavirus may have some degree of pre-existing immunity to COVID-19.
"When we looked at blood samples from people recovered from COVID-19, it looked like many of them already had a pool of memory B cells that could recognize SARS-CoV-2 and quickly produce antibodies that could attack it," said study lead author Dr. Mark Sangster, a professor of microbiology and immunology at URMC.
Sangster's findings were based on a comparison of blood samples from 26 people recovered from mild to moderate COVID-19 with 21 healthy donors who had taken samples taken six to 10 years earlier than they might have been exposed to COVID-19.
study authors measured levels of memory B cells and antibodies for specific parts of Spike protein, which is present in all coronavirus and is essential to help infecting cells.
in each coronavirus, spike proteins look and act slightly differently, but one of its components, S2 subbases, remains almost identical in all viruses.
memory B cells are unable to distinguish between the Spike S2 sub-base of different coronavirus and will attack without distinction.
at least, the study found that for β-coronavirus, β-coronavirus is a subsyste, which includes two cold viruses as well as SARS, MERS and SARS-CoV-2.
study did not show the level of protection provided by cross-reactive memory B cells and their effects on patient prognostics.
(bioon.com) Source: Can the common cold help protect you COVID-19? Original source: Phuong Nguyen-Contant et al, S Protein-Reactive IgG and Memory B Cell Production Human SARS-CoV-2 Infect Content Broad React to S2 Subunit, mBio (2020). DOI: 10.1128/mBio.01991-20.