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Jan 23, 2022 2 mins, 0 secs
Over a month’s time, tests showed that nearly 5 percent of patients had not only Covid, but another viral respiratory infection, too.  .

“What we found was actually that patients who had Covid plus another infection — they had lower rates of inflammation in their body and were less likely to be admitted to the hospital,” said Dr.

But the research may offer an intriguing window into viral interference, when one virus suppresses the effects of another, and contribute to a growing body of evidence about how the phenomenon acts.

Viruses can also enhance other infections and make people sicker, which has been documented in other studies of influenza and the common cold.

Scientists think infection by the first virus puts your body’s immune system on heightened alert, triggering the secretion of a protein called interferon.

When the timing is just right, the interferon response triggered by an initial infection could prevent a second virus from replicating, too

“What varies a lot from virus to virus is the magnitude and timing — how much a virus triggers interferon and how fast a virus triggers interferon,” Foxman said

Researchers have known about viral interference since the 1960s, when a Soviet group of scientists noticed that a live vaccine against polio and other enteroviruses also seemed to protect against unrelated viral respiratory diseases like influenza.  

Foxman’s research suggests that a recent common cold infection — from rhinoviruses — could stop replication of the virus that causes Covid-19

Rhinoviruses, which circulate widely, are relatively benign for most people and prompt a near-immediate interferon response, Foxman said.  

Foxman said no one should seek a cold infection to avoid Covid

But the side effects ended up being about as bad as the cold itself, Foxman said, noting that the innate immune system is a “double-edged sword” if it’s overstimulated. 

As those restrictions are loosened and the omicron variant spreads rapidly, the probability that someone will be infected with the virus that causes Covid and another virus at the same time is expected to increase, which makes it an interesting time for research.  

“In normal life, there’s quite a bit of respiratory virus circulation

I would expect we’re going to be seeing that soon,” Foxman said, adding that it’s a unique time to study viral interference

Foxman’s hypothesis is that as society opens up, the viral interference phenomenon could keep some of those simmering viruses from boiling up all at once. 

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