One of the things that is called the great mystery of the Corona pandemic and is currently still being researched by scientists is about some people who are not infected with Corona or are immune to Corona even though they are exposed. What's the reason behind it?
As quoted by us from CNBC, there are quite a number of stories, for example in a house, some are affected by Corona and some are not, even though they live in the same location.
In fact, Danny Altmann, professor of immunology at Imperial College, London, stated that there are indications that the tendency of all family members in one household to become infected after one is exposed is not as high as expected.
More and more research is being carried out to examine the reasons why some people seem immune to Corona, where they have never been infected. Last month, an Imperial College study found that people with higher levels of T cells, which come from the common cold, were less likely to catch SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, or become immune.
"Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 does not necessarily lead to infection and we really wanted to understand this," said Dr Rhian Kundu, one of the study's researchers.
"We found that high levels of pre-existing T cells, created by the body when infected by other human blues like normal FKU, can protect against COVID-19 infection," he said.
"But although this is an important discovery, it is only a form of protection and I emphasize that we cannot rely on this. The best way to protect you from COVID-19 is full vaccination as well as boosters," he added.
Lawrence Young, a professor at Warwick University, said preliminary data indicated certain individuals naturally acquired immunity from prior infection with the coronavirus that causes the flu. But why this can happen is still being researched.
Other experts suggest a person's immunity from the Corona virus may be related to immunity from vaccinations, previous infections, or both. "This is a well recognized phenomenon," he said.
Another question is why there are people who have severe symptoms and some are asymptomatic, even though the Corona virus that infects it is the same. The answer may lie in a person's genes. "This is a very important question," said Altmann.
"The key genes that control the immune response are referred to as HLA genes. They are important for determining your response against SARS-CoV-2. For example, people with the HLA-DRB1*1302 gene are significantly more likely to have asymptomatic infection," he explained.