Researchers have discovered why some people remain uninfected by the COVID-19 virus—even after their nasal cavities are exposed to it. According to a recent study, these people have faster and more subtle immune responses than those who develop symptomatic COVID-19. “These findings shed new light on the crucial early events that either allow the virus to take hold or rapidly clear it before symptoms develop,” Dr.
Marko Nikolić, senior author of the study and honorary consultant in respiratory medicine at the University College London, said in the press release. Researchers recruited 16 young, healthy participants under 30 for the study. None had comorbidities, and none had ever previously been infected with COVID-19 or vaccinated.
The first group contained six symptomatic people. The study authors categorized them as having sustained infections. People in the second group were asymptomatic but still tested positive for COVID-19 with PCR tests.
These participants were categorized as having transient infections. The third type of people were asymptomatic and continuously received negative COVID-19 PCR test results. The authors confirmed that these participants were infected but cleared their infections so rapidly that the infections were dubbed “abortive.
” The second and third groups, who had asymptomatic COVID-19, had faster or more subtle immune responses, according to the authors. On Day 1, the authors detected immune cells that migrated to the nose—the site of.