Catch a cold and beat virus! Medics hope it will boost immune systems
THE common cold could help protect patients against the coronavirus, scientists have revealed.
Having a cold can jump- start the body’s defences and temporarily prevent infection, a study found.
Data from more than 13,000 cold sufferers showed that barely any had both rhinovirus – the most frequent cause of viral infections – and influenza.
Researchers believe the immune response triggered by a rhinovirus attack may create a short window of heightened innate immunity to other viruses.
They are now looking into whether the same effect could be seen with the common cold and Covid- 19.
The study involved patients who visited Yale New Haven Hospital, in the US, with symptoms of respiratory infection.
Lead researcher Dr Ellen Foxman, of Yale University, said: “When we looked at the data, it became clear that very few people had both viruses at the same time.”
Vigilant
Dr Foxman’s team examined how the two viruses worked together by creating human airway tissue from stem cells that give rise to epithelial cells. These line the airways of the lung and are a chief target of respiratory viruses.
They found that after the tissue had been exposed to rhinovirus, the influenza virus was unable to infect it.
She said: “The antiviral defences were already turned on before the flu virus arrived.”
Dr Foxman said it was possible the cold virus could have a similar effect on coronavirus.
She added: “It is impossible to predict how two viruses will interact without doing the research.”
Gary McLean, a professor in molecular immunology at the London Metropolitan University, said the idea that encountering one virus could provide a few days of
innate immunity to another “makes scientific sense”.
He said: “If you’ve got one infection that induces a strong response, yes, you could well be protected for a little window of time.”
However, he warned it was hard to know whether patients in the study were really being protected or whether they just happened to have only caught one virus at the time of testing. Rhinovirus is far more common than influenza and more than 160 strains have been identified.
He added: “It’s difficult to say that just because rhinovirus is there it’s stopping influenza from being there. It’s a numbers game, to prove that is a little bit harder.”
Prof McLean also pointed out that the pandemic started last winter, when colds would have been common.
He added: “Those rhinovirus infections certainly didn’t stop the pandemic from occurring. So we’ve got to be very careful about how we interpret this.”
Researchers across the globe are also
exploring whether previous infection with colds caused by other, less deadly viruses can provide some adaptive immunity to SARSCoV- 2, the specific virus that causes Covid- 19.
Scientists at the UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium have been awarded £ 6.5million by the Government to look into it.
They will also investigate how long immunity to Covid- 19 lasts and why some patients become severely ill while others only suffer mild symptoms.
The findings were published in the journal The Lancet Microbe. Meanwhile, an Office for National Statistics infection survey found rates of Covid- 19 remain stable in England.
Around 27,100 people were thought to have the virus in the week to August 25, down slightly from 28,200 between August 14 and 20. Health Secretary Matt Hancock welcomed the figures and said: “Today’s ONS data shows NHS Test and Trace and our local restrictions approach, in partnership with local areas, is working to contain the virus and is supporting the country to safely return to normal.
“This reassuring news is testament to the hard work of everybody in following social distancing guidelines to protect themselves, their loved ones and the NHS.
“I would urge everybody to continue to be vigilant.”