Filenews 23 March 2021
The common cold virus appears to offer protection against COVID-19 infection, according to a new study published in the scientific journal Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Research by the Centre for Iological Research at the University of Glasgow shows that human rhinovirus, the virus that causes the common cold, causes an innate immune response, which seems to block the proliferation of SARS-CoV-2 in respiratory cells.
No more or less, this could simply mean that those with a common cold are somehow protected from the coronavirus or that some preventive or sedative treatment for COVID-19 could be developed, based on the common cold virus.
Rhinovirus "embankment" in the coronavirus
Computational models that did simulations showed that the interaction of the two viruses can have a broad effect and that a prevalence of rhinovirus could reduce new cases of coronavirus.
Human rhinoviruses cause the common cold and are one of the most common respiratory viruses. Previous studies have shown that interactions of rhinoviruses with other respiratory viruses can affect the type and severity of infections that people manifest, but also the way they are transmitted in the community.
The infections infect a small number of specific cells in the body and respiratory tracts usually target the cells of the respiratory tract.
In this study, researchers first infected human respiratory cells with SARS-CoV-2 in laboratory conditions, essentially representing what is actually happening. They then studied the proliferation of coronavirus in cells, both in the presence and absence of a rhinovirus.
As Professor Pablo Murcia from the University of Glasgow says "the study shows that the human rhinovirus that causes an innate immune system reaction in human epithelial respiratory cells can block the proliferation of the coronavirus. This practically means the immune response can cause a mild common cold but will offer a transient protection against SARS-CoV-2 and this in turn will cut off the transmission of coronavirus from person to person, while also reducing the severity of COVID-19 infection."
The scientists' next goal after this new finding is to see what happens at the molecular level when the two molecules interact to understand how they affect the process of human-to-human transmission of diseases.
"We can use this valuable knowledge to our advantage and develop medicines and strategies to control COVID-19," explains Professor Murcia, recalling however that "at the moment vaccination is the best method of protection against infection".
Source: protothema.gr
