New studies aim to look at immunity

THREE new UK-wide studies will look at answering key questions on how the immune system interacts with coronavirus, to help fight Covid-19 and develop better diagnostics, treatments and vaccines.

The scientists aim to develop better tests to define immunity and to study the body’s immune response to SARS-CoV-2.

They will further investigate why some people suffer from severe life-threatening Covid-19 while others have mild or asymptomatic infections but can still transmit the virus.

The studies will also try to determine when and how immunity persists, or whether people can become reinfected.

The UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium (UK-CIC) will receive £6.5m to bring together leading immunologists from 17 UK research institutions.

It will investigate how long Covid-19 immunity lasts, why some people are able to fight the virus better than others, why people’s immune responses cause damage, especially to the lungs, and how the virus hides from the immune system and how this can be tackled.

UK-CIC will also look at whether immunity to previous infection with seasonal coronaviruses (which cause the common cold) alter a person’s outcome with SARS-CoV-2.

Better understanding of these immune responses, particularly the T-cell response, could provide targets for new therapies to treat Covid-19 and inform the efforts to develop a vaccine.

The project will use samples and data from major UK Covid-19 projects already under way.