Natural defences against a common cold could offer some protection against Covid-19, too, a new research has suggested.
The study performed on a small scale and published in Nature Communications by Imperial College London, involved 52 individuals who lived with someone who had just caught Covid-19.
Those who had developed a “memory bank” of specific immune cells after a cold – to help prevent future attacks – appeared less likely to get Covid while those who had not recovered from a cold were more likely to catch covid.
But scientists say no-one should rely on this defence alone, and vaccines are the surest way to prevent the virus.
Covid-19 is caused by a type of coronavirus, and some colds are caused by other coronaviruses – so scientists have wondered whether immunity against one might help with the other.
But the experts caution that it would be a “grave mistake” to think that anyone who had recently had a cold was automatically protected against Covid-19 – as not all are caused by coronaviruses.
