Omicron cannot escape T cells; boosters protect households from Omicron

The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that justifies further studies to confirm the results and which has not yet been certified by peer review.

Omicron can not escape the body’s second line defense.

A key part of the immune system’s second-line defenses – its T cells – are extremely effective at recognizing and attacking the Omicron variant, thereby preventing most infections from developing into critical illness, a new study shows.

Omicron’s mutations help it escape antibodies, the body’s first line of defense against infection. Researchers have speculated that other components of the immune response would still be targeted at Omicron, but there has been no evidence until now.

In test tube experiments, researchers in South Africa exposed copies of the virus to T cells from volunteers who had received vaccines from Johnson & Johnson or Pfizer / BioNTech, or who had not been vaccinated but had developed their own T cells after infection with an earlier version. of coronavirus.

“Despite Omicron’s extensive mutations and reduced susceptibility to neutralizing antibodies, the majority of the T cell response, induced by vaccination or natural infection, recognizes the variant,” the researchers reported Tuesday on medRxiv prior to peer review.

“Well-preserved T cell immunity to Omicron is likely to contribute to protection against severe COVID-19,” supporting what South African doctors initially suspected when most patients with Omicron infections did not become seriously ill, they said.

“T” stands for thymus, the organ in which the last stage of cell development takes place.

The chances that vaccinated people will get the virus if a household member becomes infected are almost three to four times higher with Omicron than with Delta, but booster doses reduce this risk, new findings suggest. Heromag