Coronavirus: COVID-19 Vaccines May Unlock Strengthened Immunity in Former SARS Patients, Study Finds

TORONTO – Singaporean researchers have found that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines can trigger enhanced immunity in survivors of the original SARS virus, which could be the key to creating a vaccine that could work against all similar viruses.

The research team published the results of their small-scale study on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. They took antibody samples from eight SARS survivors before and after their vaccination, then compared them to antibody samples from 10 COVID-19 vaccinated survivors, 10 unvaccinated COVID-19 survivors, and 10 vaccinated people who did not. ‘have had no viruses.

Researchers examined the effectiveness of these antibodies in neutralizing 10 different coronaviruses, including the SARS virus, four variants of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) and five viruses that have been identified in bald people. -mice and pangolins but which have not yet caused epidemics in humans.

Antibodies from vaccinated SARS survivors were the only ones that effectively neutralized the 10 viruses, according to the study.

Antibodies from vaccinated people who did not have the SARS virus also held up well to most viruses, but fought against three of the pre-emerging viruses.

SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, is the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-1 virus. Between 2002 and 2004, the SARS outbreak resulted in more than 8,000 reported cases and nearly 800 deaths worldwide, including 251 cases and 44 deaths in Canada.

The SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 viruses share 80% of their DNA. These viruses, along with the others that were examined in the study, belong to the same subgroup of coronaviruses called sarbecoviruses.

Such a vaccine would not only be able to provide immunity to future COVID-19 variants, but it could also prevent new coronaviruses from skipping species and causing another pandemic.

“A ‘dream’ vaccine would cover not only SARS-CoV-2 and its known variants of concern, but also future variants of concern and other coronaviruses that may cause serious human illness in the future,” the authors wrote. .