Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
NEW YORK , 28th May. Alessandro Sette, Professor at LJI La Jolla Institute for Immunology in California on Monday said that “The virus evolves, but, importantly, so does the immune system. T-cells do not sit idle. Instead, they learn to recognise the parts of the virus that mutate”.
According to scientists the immune cells of people who received Covid 19 vaccines and also experienced “breakthrough” or repeated infections can build an “immunity wall” against future SARS-CoV-2 infections.
Analysing blood samples, the team at La Jolla Institute for Immunology found that people who experienced symptomatic breakthrough infections, from the Delta and Omicron variants, developed T-cells that are better at recognising and targeting SARS-CoV-2.
Alessandro Sette, Professor at LJI said “The virus evolves, but, importantly, so does the immune system. T-cells do not sit idle. Instead, they learn to recognise the parts of the virus that mutate”.
The researchers noted that due to multiple infections, “the cells could recognise multiple features, or antigens, on SARS-CoV-2.” As a result, the volunteers’ T-cells could recognise and target SARS-CoV-2, “even if part of it was mutated.”
The study published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine showed that even asymptomatic breakthrough infections boost T-cell responses, however, the effect was not as significant.
The breakthrough infections led B-cells to produce cross-reactive antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.
Most of these antibodies targeted the new viral variants and the original vaccine antigens.
LJI Instructor Parham Ramezani-Rad said “New B-cell responses that are only specific to the infecting variant, but not the vaccine, are very rare.”
The researchers discovered that breakthrough infections add more layers of protection to an individual “on top of a vaccine.”
Covid vaccines are given in the upper arm which means immune cells fighting the virus develop far away from the upper respiratory system.
SARS-CoV-2 first infects the upper respiratory tract, which means there can be a delay in getting the right immune cells to the scene of infection, which the breakthrough infections can guard, explained the researchers.
The researchers found no evidence of harmful “T-cell exhaustion,” where T-cells lose their ability to target a pathogen after repeated infection.
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