About three-quarters of people in the U.S. have had COVID-19 at least once, according to the latest federal estimates—but, if they were asymptomatic, some of them might not realize it. A new study may explain asymptomatic COVID-19
Genes that are part of what’s known as thehelp the body identify proteins made by pathogens, such as viruses, and leap into action when a foreign invader is present. Some people with a common HLA mutation seem to respond to the SARS-CoV-2 virus as if their immune systems already know how to fight it off, even if they’ve never been exposed before, explains study co-author Jill Hollenbach, a professor of neurology, epidemiology, and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco.
To reach that finding, Hollenbach and her colleagues analyzed the genetic information of more than 1,400 unvaccinated people who tested positive for COVID-19 in April 2021 or earlier. Out of those people, 136 did not develop symptoms. The researchers ran similar analyses in two other groups of patients. Both times, they found that the HLA-B*15:01 mutation was disproportionately common among people who had asymptomatic COVID-19, suggesting it played a role in keeping symptoms at bay.
“We know that SARS-CoV-2 has a lot of similarities with some seasonal coronaviruses,” Hollenbach says. “From very early on, [researchers] thought, ‘Maybe there’s some cross-protection there.’” Her research suggests there is—at least, among people with the right genes.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Why Are Offline People So Much More Attractive Than “Extremely Online” Ones?“One friend, who recently started seeing this guy, told me that she wasn’t sure about him until he started texting someone on his burner phone.”
Read more »
Scientists reveal why some people are mosquito magnets & how to avoid the pestsSOME people are mosquito magnets who are plagued by agonisingly itchy bites. But others seem to get off near enough unscathed, enjoying a summer free from the pesky insects. New research is startin…
Read more »
Metagenomic assessment of gut microbial communities and risk of severe COVID-19 - Genome MedicineBackground The gut microbiome is a critical modulator of host immunity and is linked to the immune response to respiratory viral infections. However, few studies have gone beyond describing broad compositional alterations in severe COVID-19, defined as acute respiratory or other organ failure. Methods We profiled 127 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 (n = 79 with severe COVID-19 and 48 with moderate) who collectively provided 241 stool samples from April 2020 to May 2021 to identify links between COVID-19 severity and gut microbial taxa, their biochemical pathways, and stool metabolites. Results Forty-eight species were associated with severe disease after accounting for antibiotic use, age, sex, and various comorbidities. These included significant in-hospital depletions of Fusicatenibacter saccharivorans and Roseburia hominis, each previously linked to post-acute COVID syndrome or “long COVID,” suggesting these microbes may serve as early biomarkers for the eventual development of long COVID. A random forest classifier achieved excellent performance when tasked with classifying whether stool was obtained from patients with severe vs. moderate COVID-19, a finding that was externally validated in an independent cohort. Dedicated network analyses demonstrated fragile microbial ecology in severe disease, characterized by fracturing of clusters and reduced negative selection. We also observed shifts in predicted stool metabolite pools, implicating perturbed bile acid metabolism in severe disease. Conclusions Here, we show that the gut microbiome differentiates individuals with a more severe disease course after infection with COVID-19 and offer several tractable and biologically plausible mechanisms through which gut microbial communities may influence COVID-19 disease course. Further studies are needed to expand upon these observations to better leverage the gut microbiome as a potential biomarker for disease severity and as a target for therapeutic intervention.
Read more »
Government launches pension credit trial, encouraging more people to apply for vital supportA new trial encouraging people to claim pension credit has been launched by the Government today ⬇️ Here's what you need to know
Read more »
Four people rushed to hospital after fire rips through Glasgow tenementFire crews were scrambled to Bathgate Street in Dennistoun where they found the first-floor flat 'well alight'.
Read more »