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Common Cold Can Protect Against Infection by COVID-19 Virus - SciTechDaily

Common Cold Can Protect Against Infection by COVID-19 Virus - SciTechDaily

Common Cold Can Protect Against Infection by COVID-19 Virus - SciTechDaily
Jun 15, 2021 1 min, 33 secs

June 15, 2021.

Exposure to the rhinovirus, the most frequent cause of the common cold, can protect against infection by the virus which causes COVID-19, Yale researchers have found.

In a new study, the researchers found that the common respiratory virus jump-starts the activity of interferon-stimulated genes, early-response molecules in the immune system which can halt replication of the SARS-CoV-2 virus within airway tissues infected with the cold.

Triggering these defenses early in the course of COVID-19 infection holds promise to prevent or treat the infection, said Ellen Foxman, assistant professor of laboratory medicine and immunobiology at the Yale School of Medicine and senior author of the study.

Foxman’s lab wanted to study this defense system early in the course of COVID-19 infection.

Since earlier studies by Foxman’s lab showed that common cold viruses may protect against influenza, they decided to study whether rhinoviruses would have the same beneficial impact against the COVID-19 virus.

For the study, her team infected lab-grown human airway tissue with SARS-CoV-2 and found that for the first three days, viral load in the tissue doubled about every six hours.

They found evidence of rapid growth of SARS-CoV-2 in the first few days of infection, followed by activation of the body’s defenses.

According to their findings, the virus typically increased rapidly for the first few days of infection, before host defenses kicked in, doubling about every six hours as seen in the lab; in some patients the virus grew even faster.

“There appears to be a viral sweet spot at the beginning of COVID-19, during which the virus replicates exponentially before it triggers a strong defense response,” Foxman said.

Interferon treatment holds promise but it could be tricky, she said, because it would be mostly effective in the days immediately after infection, when many people exhibit no symptoms.

Reference: 15 June 2021, Journal of Experimental Medicine.

June 13, 2021

June 13, 2021

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