Podcast Beta
Questions and Answers
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?
What is a "memory bank" of specific immune cells?
Why do experts caution that vaccines remain key?
Signup and view all the answers
What is the cause of Covid-19?
Signup and view all the answers
What did the study published in Nature Communications focus on?
Signup and view all the answers
What are T-cells?
Signup and view all the answers
What did the study find about the people who did not catch Covid-19?
Signup and view all the answers
How were the specific memory T-cells likely created?
Signup and view all the answers
What could learning from the body's natural defenses help inform?
Signup and view all the answers
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.
Studying That Suits You
Use AI to generate personalized quizzes and flashcards to suit your learning preferences.
