Podcast
Questions and Answers
What is the connection between natural defenses against the common cold and protection against Covid-19?
What is the connection between natural defenses against the common cold and protection against Covid-19?
How many people were involved in the small-scale study published in Nature Communications?
How many people were involved in the small-scale study published in Nature Communications?
What is a "memory bank" of specific immune cells?
What is a "memory bank" of specific immune cells?
Why do experts caution that vaccines remain key?
Why do experts caution that vaccines remain key?
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What is the cause of Covid-19?
What is the cause of Covid-19?
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What did the study published in Nature Communications focus on?
What did the study published in Nature Communications focus on?
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What are T-cells?
What are T-cells?
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What did the study find about the people who did not catch Covid-19?
What did the study find about the people who did not catch Covid-19?
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How were the specific memory T-cells likely created?
How were the specific memory T-cells likely created?
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What could learning from the body's natural defenses help inform?
What could learning from the body's natural defenses help inform?
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Study Notes
- Research suggests natural defenses against common cold may offer protection against Covid-19.
- A small-scale study published in Nature Communications involved 52 people living with someone who had Covid-19.
- Those who had developed a "memory bank" of specific immune cells after a cold were less likely to get Covid-19.
- Experts caution that vaccines remain key and no one should rely on natural defenses alone.
- Covid-19 is caused by a type of coronavirus, and some colds are caused by other coronaviruses.
- The study focused on T-cells, which kill cells infected by a specific threat.
- Some T-cells remain in the body as a memory bank, ready to mount a defense when they next encounter the virus.
- A third of people who did not catch Covid-19 were found to have high levels of specific memory T-cells in their blood.
- The T-cells were likely created when the body had been infected with another closely-related human coronavirus.
- Learning from the body's natural defenses could help inform the design of new vaccines.
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