Is it possible you already have some amount of immunity to COVID-19, even if you haven't caught it? A new study published in the journal Nature is calling that into question.
Blood samples out of Germany may give researchers insight into why some people can ward off COVID-19 easily, and others cannot. There, researchers found a small percentage of healthy adults had T cells in their blood that react to the virus. That means their immune system might have previous experience fighting a similar infection, which could help (in theory) against COVID-19. Doctor Jill Weatherhead at Baylor College of Medicine says these T cells are critical for research.
“It’s not just the antibodies that we often talk about, but we need to be giving some spotlight to the T cells which will be important in terms of the development of therapeutics,” Weatherhead said.
Medical experts say more research is needed, but the study is a hopeful sign that we're gaining a better understanding of COVID-19.