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Covid: are some people naturally less at risk?
A study highlights a “genetic predisposition” of resistance to the virus, which could help us understand why Covid has never affected them.
(France 2)
A study highlights a “genetic predisposition” of resistance to the virus, which could help us understand why Covid has never affected them.
British researchers have conducted an original experiment. They infected volunteers, without risk factors for severe form, with Covid to observe the body’s reaction. They found that the majority of people have a slow immune response, “but surprise, they saw that for some, the immune response was very rapid”summarizes the journalist and doctor, Damien Mascret. A genetic profile in particular, called HLA-DQA2, gets rid of the virus as soon as it is infected.
Some of them are therefore naturally protected against the virus. “This is a phenomenon that we have already observed. We saw it with HIV, the AIDS virus. A part of the population actually has a resistance gene.”says the doctor, especially in Northern Europe. According to researchers at the University of California, this gene spread from the Viking invasions. “But be careful, covid or AIDS, a resistance profile is never absolute protection. You have to protect yourself”recalls Damien Mascret.
Nature (in English)
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