A team of scientists believe that there could be people genetically immune to COVID-19, and they want to find and study them to develop potential treatments for the disease . Therefore, they propose a “strategy to identify, recruit and genetically analyze individuals who are naturally resistant” to COVID.
“No specific drug effective against COVID-19 has been discovered since the onset of the pandemic,” the researchers write in the article. “Lessons learned from nature’s experiments could potentially guide us toward such specific treatments for COVID-19.”
While little is known so far about those who are naturally immune to the coronavirus specifically, the study authors note in their research collected by the journal Nature Immunology that there is evidence to suggest they are out there.
Genes that confer natural resistance have been identified in other infections, including HIV and norovirus, and could provide an excellent opportunity to better understand COVID-19 and develop improved treatments and vaccines. Regarding innate resistance, there are currently only three known examples: Plasmodium vivax, HIV-1 and norovirus infections.
Unpredictable effects
Scientists have developed a reasonably consistent picture of who is most at risk for serious illness, yet there are countless stories of young, healthy people succumbing to COVID-19. And, at the other end of the spectrum, there are many anecdotes of couples in which one partner suffers from severe COVID-19 while the other does not experience any adverse effects.
As we’ve already seen throughout these multiple months of pandemic, infections are incredibly variable , from asymptomatic to life-threatening, with all varying degrees in between. Some suffer mildly, some are hospitalized, and some continue to suffer for months after infection. There are numerous reports of people resisting the infection despite the rest of their families succumbing, and researchers believe that perhaps the clinical variability of COVID-19 could be explained by genetic factors.
How to find them?
Positive case domestic contacts are good candidates, but intimate ones are even better. Known as discordant couples, they are couples in which one member is symptomatic while the other is not only asymptomatic, but is confirmed seronegative by a COVID-19 PCR test.
More than 400 people have already signed up for the ongoing project. Anyone interested in participating in the project can participate through the COVID Human Genetic Effort website.
They must meet the requirement of not having been infected after spending at least one hour a day with an infected person during the first 3-5 days of symptoms; confirmed with PCR four weeks after contact and to have a blood test to look for cells such as T lymphocytes, which would indicate that the infection has been passed, even if it is asymptomatic. If negative, the researchers postulate, the individual would be a good candidate for the study.
The results of this study, the team hopes, could lead to the development of new COVID therapies.
Reference: Andreakos, E., Abel, L., Vinh, DC et al. A global effort to dissect the human genetic basis of resistance to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Nature Immunology (2021). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-021-01030-z
