A preprint, an unpublished non-peer reviewed study, posted on MedRxiv looks at responsive T cell numbers and associated protection from COVID-19, as referred to in yesterday’s updated version of the Evaluating Detection of SARS-CoV-2 AntiBodies at Home (EDSAB-HOME) study report.
*This is NOT a third-party comment* Dr David Wyllie, Consultant Microbiologist at Public Health England and the lead author of the study, said:
“We conducted a prospective cohort study in almost three thousand volunteers working in hospitals, and the fire and police services in England. Four months into the study, 20 participants with lower T cell responses had developed COVID-19, compared with none among individuals with higher T cell responses. This suggests individuals with higher numbers of T-cells recognising SARS-CoV-2 may have some level of protection from COVID-19, although more research is required to confirm this.”
Additional background
Dr Rupert Beale, Group Leader, Cell Biology of Infection Laboratory, Francis Crick Institute, said:
“About a quarter had highly reactive T cells, more than half of them had serological evidence of prior infection using tests that would be about 70% sensitive – so only a very small proportion of adults (less than 10%, maybe much less than 10%) would be protected by pre-existing T cell immunity.”
‘SARS-CoV-2 responsive T cell numbers are associated with protection from COVID-19: A prospective cohort study in keyworkers’ by David Wyllie et al was posted on MedRxiv on 4 November
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.02.20222778v1.full
The ‘What we have discovered so far section’ of ‘Evaluating detection of SARS-CoV-2: AntiBodies at Home study’ was updated on 18 November.
All our previous output on this subject can be seen at this weblink:
www.sciencemediacentre.org/tag/covid-19
Declared interests
None received.