The more we looked at an article in Live Science, the more we realized this made a deal of sense. After all, Common Colds and COVID-19 are both strains of the same Coronavirus, so surely there must be an overlap somewhere? A research team lead by Jose Mateus wondered whether Common Colds could teach our immune systems to spot Covid 19 and this is what they found.
Common Colds Could Teach Our Systems to Spot COVID-19
We say ‘could’ because their paper (see link below) is speculative and requires more research to confirm their theory. However – and this could be of great importance – Jose Mateus and colleagues made a most interesting observation:
1… Immune T-cells are able to recognize common cold coronaviruses
2… Those same cells are also able to spot the spike protein on SARS-Cov-2
T-cells play a central role within our immune systems by helping them spot and get rid of infected cells. SARS-Cov-2 is the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease. Our immune systems retain shadow memories of past events like this. Could this mean Common Colds could teach our immune systems to spot Covid-19?
We Have Now Proven This in Some People, Researchers Say
A spokesperson for the research team at La Jolla Institute for Immunology explained this as follows.
1… This embedded ‘immune reactivity’ could translate to different degrees of protection from SARS-Cov-2
2… Having a better T-cell response could help our immune system mount a quicker and stronger defense
We already know upwards of 50% of people who never had COVID-19, have T-cells that recognize the virus. Scientists have previously wondered about a link to Common Cold infections, according to Live Science.
The evidence seems to be building towards Common Colds teaching our systems to spot COVID infections. This opens the door to a number of new possibilities, for scientists to follow up.
Related
Common Colds, Allergies, Flu and COVID-19
John Hopkins Review of Coronavirus Status
Preview Image: Many Faces of Cold Virus
