It may explain why some people, despite being close to corona patients, did not get COVID-19.

Scientists and doctors are still puzzled as to why one person becomes deathly ill from COVID-19, while the other only has a cold. In addition, there have also been households in which almost everyone was infected, but only one person managed to escape. Stories are also trickling in from people who have been ‘in the line of fire’ several times, but have not been infected in one way or another. It therefore appears that some people are naturally resistant to COVID-19. Scientists are now looking for these people. Because they may play a key role in the treatment of the disease.

Genes

In a new groundbreaking study Researchers outline a promising way to answer one of the pandemic’s biggest questions: Why don’t some people get COVID-19? The team thinks the answer lies in our genes. Over the years, scientists have discovered genetic factors that partly explain why certain infectious diseases – such as malaria, HIV and hepatitis C – affect some people more than others.

Resistant

“There is a growing awareness that many people seem to have an innate resistance to viral infections,” said study leader Cliona O’Farrelly. “My team and I have been stressing this for several years, since discovering that about a third of rhesus-negative Irish women exposed to hepatitis C between 1977 and 1979 never showed any symptoms of the virus. Because of that work, together with the increasing knowledge about people’s wildly variable reactions to exposure to the coronavirus, we are convinced that part of the population is resistant to it.”

Blood type

In the meantime, we already know that variation in some immune genes contributes to how seriously a person becomes ill from a COVID-19 infection (see this study). But now researchers are aiming to identify the genes in question that actually make some people resistant to COVID-19. Perhaps part of the answer lies in our blood group. Because according to the researchers, there is evidence that suggests that people with blood group 0 appear to be slightly more resistant to a serious corona infection. Of course, this needs to be further explored. And that is why they are now looking for test subjects.

test subjects

Over the next 12 months, the scientists will look for people who appear to be naturally immune to COVID-19. Think of people who have been around an infected person for a long time, but did not get anything among the members themselves. “We’ve already recruited people,” said study researcher Jamie Sugrue. “It concerns people who themselves remained COVID-negative, while living with someone who was infected. We then took DNA samples that are now ready for analysis. In the coming year we will collect more biological material from ‘resistant’ and their virus-prone housemates to compare their innate immune responses and identify biological features of resistance to COVID-19.”

In this way, the researchers hope to recognize the relevant characteristics associated with immunity to the virus. “This can then be used to find out how many people are actually resistant to COVID-19,” Sugrue continues. “And that, in turn, can help put together new treatment plans.”

Thanks to vaccines, promising drugs and more knowledge about the virus, we see that life is starting to look a little more normal in many places. But in the meantime, we also know that the coronavirus will probably not just disappear. And finding people who have somehow been spared by the virus could potentially be vital for others, especially if new strains of virus may emerge in the future. Do you recognize yourself in this story? Read more about the study and whether you can participate, via this link.