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A genetic variation increases some people’s odds of avoiding symptoms after infection
You might know a Covid-19 super-dodger who was infected with the virus but didn’t get sick. Their luck could be written in their genes.
A DNA variation that affects the immune system can boost a person’s odds of avoiding Covid-19 symptoms, a study found. The work, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, helps explain why some people infected with the virus that causes Covid-19 don’t fall ill.
The T cells of some people with the variation can find and kill the virus without having seen it before, researchers said. That is because the part of the virus their T cells home in on is similar enough to common coronaviruses they have already encountered.
“There are people out there that have got strong prior immunity from their common coronavirus exposures,” said Danny Altmann, a professor of immunology at Imperial College London, who wasn’t involved in the study. The work could help researchers design better vaccines, Altmann said.
People with a copy of the genetic variation were more than twice as likely to avoid symptoms than people without it, the researchers found. For people with two copies, the chance of avoiding symptoms increased more than eightfold.
Weekly reported Covid-19 deaths and hospitalizations in the U.S. are at record lows, federal data show. Concentrations of the virus detected in wastewater have ticked up recently from a low base. Health officials and hospitals have pulled back on reporting and surveillance.
Yet researchers are still exploring mysteries about the virus including why some people get infected and transmit it without getting sick. Age, underlying health problems, vaccination status, and healthcare quality all influence how a person fares against infection. --->READ MORE HERE
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More than three years into the pandemic, many Americans still have yet to become ill from COVID-19. Researchers are trying to figure out why a virus has sent millions of people to the hospitals while others haven't become sick at all.
The answer might be due to genetics.
According to a group of researchers, including ones from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the University of California San Francisco, the answer could be due to genetics.
The researchers focused on a group of genes called human leukocyte antigens (HLA). According to researchers at UNC Charlotte, these genes act as codes used by the immune system to separate healthy cells from those infected with viruses and bacteria. The researchers wondered what role these genes play in the body's immune response to COVID-19.
The study enrolled 29,947 people early in the pandemic who were unvaccinated at the time. What they found was those who have a certain generic variant were much more likely to remain asymptomatic even when testing positive for COVID-19.
This variant, HLA-B*15:01, is found in 10% of the population, researchers said. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
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