Glimmers of hope in the pandemic

People who have had SARS-CoV-2 have at least some degree of immunity from subsequent infection from the virus, a new study has found. The authors of the Public Health England research said the virus gives “at least as good” a defence against future infections as a vaccine. The study, involving 21,000 healthcare workers, around 6,600 of whom were infected in the spring, showed that having had the illness provided about 85% protection against both asymptomatic and symptomatic reinfection. It also found that the few people who did get reinfected typically suffered only mild symptoms. However, people may still transmit the virus, and it’s not clear how long immunity lasts.

Further positive news came from an international study which found that drugs used to treat rheumatoid arthritis reduce the risk of death in severe cases of Covid-19. In the study, involving 800 intensive care patients, 27.3% of those given tocilizumab died, compared to 35.8% of those given standard care. A second drug, sarilumab, had a similar effect, also reducing the time spent in ICU. “Treat 12 patients and you save one life,” said Prof Anthony Gordon, of Imperial College London, the UK’s chief investigator on the trial. The drugs are both immunosuppressants, which reduce inflammation by blocking the effect of a protein, interleukin-6, that fuels the immune response. It is Covid-19 sending the immune system into overdrive, causing hyperinflammation, that kills many. Though the study has yet to be peer reviewed, tocilizumab is now being used to treat Covid patients in the NHS.