Catching a Cold Might Prevent a Severe Case of COVID-19

Scientists have puzzled over why some people seem immune to COVID-19, even after exposure. Now, emerging evidence points to an intriguing explanation: prior run-ins with the common cold.

Common Cold Antibodies Protect Against COVID-19

new study investigated whether preexisting antibodies from common cold viruses offered protection against COVID-19. Researchers analyzed blood samples from 94 unvaccinated hospitalized patients with varying severity of respiratory failure; 74 had tested positive for COVID-19, while 20 didnโ€™t have the infection.

They measured levels of antibodies from prior common cold coronavirus infections. The same analysis was done for non-COVID-19 patients as controls.

There was a positive correlation between common cold antibody levels and COVID-19-specific antibodies. Higher common cold antibody levels in the control patients suggested a potentially protective effect against COVID-19 severity.

โ€˜Original Antigenic Sinโ€™

The concept of โ€œoriginal antigenic sinโ€ (OAS) was first coined in the 1960s. It refers to how initial flu exposures shape immunity against later, related strains, sometimes trapping the immune system in a way that leaves it unable to adapt to new variants of a virus. This can leave people more vulnerable to a given virus.

Since then, research has shown these original imprints can influence susceptibility to other infections.

This phenomenon may also apply to COVID-19 and common colds, Dr. Thomas Gut, an internal medicine doctor with the Post-COVID Recovery Center at Staten Island University Hospital, told The Epoch Times.

โ€œItโ€™s been up for debate for quite some time whether preexisting colds โ€ฆ offer a protective effect for being exposed to COVID or whether it somehow makes it higher-risk when theyโ€™re exposed to COVID,โ€ he said.

These latest findings suggest that any prior corona-type virusโ€”the common cold or the virus that causes COVID-19โ€”is unlikely to heighten susceptibility, Dr. Gut said.

Did Childhood Colds Help Africa Evade COVID-19โ€™s Worst?

Thereโ€™s an intense debate around whether endemic common colds impact susceptibility to severe COVID-19 outcomes, according to a review of the study. However, some speculate that childhood cold exposure partly explains Africaโ€™s milder pandemic impact through cross-protection.

A 2023 study published in the Journal of Clinical Virology Plus analyzed โ€œrobustโ€ immune responses to COVID-19 in Lagos, Nigeria. Researchers examined two groups: health care workers at a teaching hospital and the general population across five areas.

Of the 250 participants, more than 83 percent had prior exposure to common cold coronaviruses. The study found that their infection-fighting white blood cells cross-reacted to the virus that causes COVID-19.

This suggests that people who were previously exposed to these genetically related coronaviruses have immune responses that are protective against future SARS-CoV-2 infections, Bobby Brooke Herrera, assistant professor of global health at Rutgers Global Health Institute and lead author of the study, said in a statement. He noted the studyโ€™s unique baseline data from early in the pandemic, before vaccination started.

Now that most people have existing COVID-19 antibodies, either from vaccination or infection, itโ€™s difficult to find an unexposed population for comparison, underscoring the value of early pandemic data.

Early Exposures Shape Kidsโ€™ Viral Defenses: Study

2023 study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences analyzed pre-pandemic blood samples from children and adults, along with samples from COVID-19 recoverees.

The research found that children as young as 2 had already developed immunity to several viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. However, these protective cells decreased with age.

โ€œThese reactions are especially strong early in life and grow much weaker as we get older,โ€ Annika Karlsson, study corresponding author and research group leader at the Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, said in a statement.

This may explain why children tend to get milder COVID-19 cases than adults.

Source: Epoch Times

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Comments (6)

  • Avatar

    VOWG

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    The flu, the common cold, โ€œcovidโ€™, has anyone seen the correlation? All the same.

    Reply

  • Avatar

    Tom

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    These bozos have it all backwards. You do not catch a cold or flu. These things in all their variations are detoxing methods implored by the body. Itโ€™s basically the same for all of us and the degree of severity depends on the state of your bodily systems. There you go, scientists and doctors, you are now un-baffled.

    Reply

    • Avatar

      Jerry Krause

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      hi tom,

      A day or two ago I asked you a question and you seem to not have answered. Because I am old and forget, I do not remember what the question was. I will try to find it and repeat it here because you seem to know everything.

      Have a good day

      Reply

      • Avatar

        Jerry Krause

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        I couldnโ€™t find it and maybe you didnโ€™t read this previous comment because someone had may a series of the same comments so none of the previous comments were listed a very long time.

        Reply

  • Avatar

    nils-ola Holtze

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    The virus theory is very suspect. But dismissing it with another dubious theory that the common cold is a detox has to be proven. Where is the evidence for the detoxification theory?

    Reply

  • Avatar

    mehere

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    Considering that it was rebranded flu to start with, is it surprising? Untested and unjabbed. 8:32. <:o)

    Reply

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