A recent study answers ... Does the body have cells that recognize "corona" and fight it?
Researchers in Singapore said that T-lymphocytes (T cells) in the bodies of some people may have the ability to recognize "Covid-19", despite it being a new virus.
Their findings indicate that exposure to types of corona viruses in the past could produce "memory T cells" in some people's blood, and may help them fight the new Corona virus.
The researchers hope in the small study published in the journal Nature, too, that these T cells will help in developing a vaccine for "Covid-19".
Dr. Antonio Bertoletti, professor of emerging infectious diseases at Duke-NUS College of Medicine and co-author of the study, said in a statement to the American "Fox News" channel: "It is important to send a message that T cells, not just antibodies, are an essential part of antiviral immunity. ".
According to "Russia Today", T cells are part of the immune system that responds to foreign invasion, such as viruses, and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), they differ from antibodies.
After the body fights an infection, "the immune system remembers what it learned about how to protect the body from this disease," says the Centers for Disease Control on its website.
The body will retain some specific T cells, which are referred to as "memory cells". This will act as an alarm and help the immune system to identify and produce antibodies to attack the foreign germ if it enters the body again.
"100% of Covid-19 patients develop T-cell immunity to the virus," Bertoletti said.
The researchers also found that patients who contracted SARS during the outbreak in 2003 still possessed memory T cells for this virus 17 years later.
They also found that these patients demonstrated cross-immunity to SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind the Corona pandemic.
The study stated that the results of long-term T cells and cross-immune results indicate that the role of T cells, not just antibodies, is an essential part of immunity against "Covid-19".
However, what remains unclear is whether the pre-existing T cells are sufficient. To protect or change the pathogenesis of "Covid-19", according to the study authors.