What is cellular immunity to coronavirus and how to test it

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

Immediately after suffering a coronavirus infection, patients are not vaccinated, since their body has already developed a system of protection against a dangerous infection. Therefore, many people want to know how much cellular immunity to coronavirus remains after illness and after vaccination.

Cellular and humoral immunity: features of the body's defense

It is known that in those who have had a coronavirus infection, antibodies are produced in the blood, which ensure the creation of humoral immunity. The more there are, the stronger people are protected from re-infection. However, their number very quickly decreases after an illness, so the human body becomes defenseless again.

Studies begun in late 2020 by British immunologists and scientists from the Swedish Carolina Institute have identified T-lymphocytes in people who have had mild coronavirus infection. At the same time, the level of T-leukocytes responsible for cellular immunity was 2 times higher than that of antibodies.

In the context of the further spread of SARS-CoV-2, scientists are interested in the long-term mechanism of the body's defense at the cellular level. Unlike humoral immunity, which is provided by antibodies, cellular lasts longer due to the fact that T-lymphocytes have cellular memory, live longer than antibodies, and can recognize the pathogen even after six months, providing protection against it at the cellular level.

Scientists are interested in how much cellular immunity is preserved from coronavirus infection. The results obtained made it possible to state with confidence that the development of cellular immunity provides long-term protection against coronavirus.

T-cells, or T-leukocytes, have the so-called cellular memory and live in the body for up to 10 years. Such indicators allow us to count on the creation of long-term cellular immunity to coronavirus, which will prevent the disease from proceeding in a severe form, fraught with death.

Based on the information received, the researchers concluded that human herd immunity is higher than estimates based on data on the number of people with antibodies. Research shows that even in the absence of antibodies, people have T cells that provide protection against coronavirus. And there are 2 times more people with cellular immunity than people with antibodies.

There are no medical statistics on this topic yet, but many scientists believe that some people may have acquired immunity to COVID-19 due to the fact that they already have cellular immunity activated by other coronavirus infections, created by T-leukocytes, which have a long memory and long life.

So far, this is only a hypothesis, since there is no mass laboratory screening. To study T-leukocytes, you have to spend a lot of time, since such a study is a rather laborious process that is carried out in specialized scientific laboratories.

While the study of cellular immunity is at the stage of generating statistical data, but according to the information already available, it is possible to draw optimistic conclusions that it will be possible to defeat the dangerous coronavirus infection.

Methods for assessing cellular immunity

Serological tests do not allow to distinguish the causative agent of COVID-19 in the blood from other colds coronavirus infections, so today doctors recommend doing not only tests for the presence of antibodies and humoral immunity, but also tests for cellular immunity to coronavirus.

The presence of T cells in the body allows you to be sure of the following:

• detected T-leukocytes before antibodies begin to fight a dangerous infection in the body;
• T cells of the immune system have a long lifespan and good cellular memory, so even after a few years they will be able to recognize a pathogenic agent that has entered the body and begin an effective fight against it;
• T-leukocytes provide longer and more effective protection against re-infection with COVID-19.

Testing for T-leukocytes will allow you to accurately understand whether a person has long-term protection against SARS-CoV-2.

Benefits of Cellular Immunity Assay

Anyone wishing to receive long-term protection from COVID-19 and identify contraindications to vaccination should find out where they can get tested for T cells. This is a completely safe procedure that does not take much time. She has no contraindications and age restrictions.

It should be remembered that this test is of a scientific research nature and is not an independent analysis used in the prevention and diagnosis of coronavirus infection.

This is due to the fact that COVID-19 is now being actively studied, and diagnostic methods are still under development. After the appearance of scientific publications by British and Swedish scientists on cellular immunity, Russian specialists from the National Medical Research Center of Hematology began developing a special test for detecting T cells even in the absence of antibodies to coronavirus in the patient's blood.

Outcomes

1. Tests for T-leukocytes and cellular immunity are not yet so widespread, due to the fact that such a study is carried out manually in special laboratories, so it is difficult to carry out mass testing so far.
2. Russian scientists are working on a test for cellular immunity.
3. Cellular immunity is longer than humoral immunity.
4. There is a good chance that doctors will be able to develop methods for the diagnosis and prevention of COVID-19 based on the detection of the level of T-leukocytes.