About nine months ago – as we now all know – a new coronavirus jumped to humans, causing a complex respiratory disease called Covid-19. We still cannot predict who will develop severe disease symptoms that lead to fatality, so even children, who were considered safe earlier this year, have now presented at random with rare but severe disease. These clever cells not only recognise that we’re suffering a virus infection, they are also able to pinpoint exactly which virus. Patients with severe Covid-19 have higher antibody counts, and given the pro-inflammatory role of antibodies, there were concerns for antibody-dependent enhancement of the disease. As the first data from global vaccine trials emerge, the hallmarks of protective immunity, both antibodies and T cells, are there.

Source: The Guardian August 19, 2020 08:37 UTC