T-cell immunity against the coronavirus could last for at least six months after infection, a study from the U.K. Coronavirus Immunology Consortium suggests.
The study, which is awaiting peer review, evaluated 100 health-care workers in the U.K. who had mild or asymptomatic COVID-19 cases in March and April and found that the defensive blood cells, which differ from antibodies, were present in all of them. The patients who experienced symptoms had T-cell levels that were at least 50 percent higher than the asymptomatic cases. That could mean either that people who had a more severe initial infection have more protection, or that those with milder or asymptomatic cases are able to control the virus with lower T-cell levels, The Guardian notes.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Today's political cartoons - May 9, 2024Cartoons Thursday's cartoons - double standards, red lines, and more
-
Marjorie Taylor Greene fails in bid to oust JohnsonSpeed Read The House swiftly killed Greene's effort
-
Kim Kardashian's Met Gala corset: designed for drama but a step too far?In The Spotlight Reality TV star shocks with 'impossibly tiny waist' at this year's fashion event, echoing controversies from previous outfits
-
Texas dairy worker gets bird flu from infected cowSpeed Read The virus has been spreading among cattle in Texas, Kansas, Michigan and New Mexico
-
Dengue hits the Americas hard and earlySpeed Read Puerto Rico has declared an epidemic as dengue cases surge
-
US bans final type of asbestosSpeed Read Exposure to asbestos causes about 40,000 deaths in the U.S. each year
-
Seattle Children's Hospital sues Texas over 'sham' demand for transgender medical recordsSpeed Read Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton subpoenaed records of any Texan who received gender-affirming care at the Washington hospital
-
Afghanistan has a growing female suicide problemSpeed Read The Taliban has steadily whittled away women's and girls' rights in Afghanistan over the past 2 years, prompting a surge in depression and suicide
-
US life expectancy rose in 2022 but not to pre-pandemic levelsSpeed Read Life expectancy is slowly crawling back up
-
Vallance diaries: Boris Johnson 'bamboozled' by Covid scienceSpeed Read Then PM struggled to get his head around key terms and stats, chief scientific advisor claims
-
An increasing number of dog owners are 'vaccine hesitant' about rabiesSpeed Read A new survey points to canine vaccine hesitancy
