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During the pandemic, some people miraculously escaped Covid-19. In question: genetic variants “potentially very rare” according to the researchers.
For more than two years – and despite the arrival of virulent variants – some people have managed to dodge the coronavirus. A “miracle” according to many scientists who are looking for answers… on the DNA side. Explanations.
“Potentially very rare genetic variants”
Throughout the pandemic, thousands of people regularly exposed to the coronavirus have seen their tests come back “negative” – as if their body was blocking the virus.
A strange phenomenon, which has raised many questions in the scientific community. After suspecting blood type O of having a protective effect, many experts now believe that “genetic variants” prevent certain people from being infected:
“What we are looking for are potentially very rare genetic variants with a very large impact on the individual“, told The Washington Post András Spaan, clinical microbiologist at Rockefeller University in New York.
The expert is leading a vast study on the potential causes of this resistance to Covid. In total, nearly 700 participants were recruited. A further 5,000 people – who presented themselves as potentially immune to the virus – were also screened.
Bevin Strickland, a nurse anesthetist from High Point, North Carolina, is among the attendees. She treated many patients for six weeks, starting in April 2020, in a hospital in Queens (when the place became the epicenter of the pandemic).
The caregiver, tested weekly, never became “positive” for coronavirus despite repeated exposure. She also had an antibody test at the end of her stay which showed no evidence of previous infection.
According to the researchers, she could have – like thousands of people – these famous “immunizing genes”.
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Anti-coronavirus immunity: different possible causes
The reasons that explain the “insensitivity” of certain people to the coronavirus remain unclear for the moment, even if work is in progress.
“Studying the genes and other biological traits of people who never get the coronavirus could shed light on how the virus grows or how it infects the human body and makes people sick.”said Jennifer Nuzzo, professor of epidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health.
According to her, this natural immunity could be explained by physiological factors. Some people might as well have thfewer receptors in the nose, throat and lungs that the virus can bind to”.
Other avenues are still to be studied: this minority may have been exposed to a virus similar to Covid-19 which has modified their immune systems, some people may have been born with an immune system better equipped to fight the virus…
It remains to distinguish people who have never caught the coronavirus from those who have had an asymptomatic infection.
Ultimately, this research could lead to the development of new treatments against the coronavirus and new health recommendations (wearing masks inside and outside, social distancing, vaccination, etc.).