4 ms·

Some up to date news regarding T-cells and their implications suggest this in fact could be a thing with some of the harder hit states. Apparently T-cells will

Some up to date news regarding T-cells and their implications suggest this in fact could be a thing with some of the harder hit states. Apparently T-cells will "remember" an infection after a person is exposed to and recovers from covid-19[1]. This is a huge development as it suggests that neutralizing antibodies are not the only defense against a reinfection of covid-19(and these antibodies only last a few months) whereas T-cell memory of infections lasts years. Also, there are some signs that other cornavirus family of viruses(common colds, not covid-19) could trigger a memory with these t cells, this is a possibility why some have extreme cases and others show no signs of sickness[2]. Couple these points with data showing 40% of people who contract the virus are asymptomatic[3] this leads to the idea that alot more people have had the virus than what is reported, which in this case is a good thing as its closer to herd immunity(if all the above is found to be true). [1] - https://www.businessinsider.com/long-term-coronavirus-immunity-t-cells-2020-8 https://www.businessinsider.com/long-term-coronavirus-immuni... [2] - https://www.livescience.com/common-cold-coronaviruses-t-cells-covid-19-immunity.html https://www.livescience.com/common-cold-coronaviruses-t-cell... [3] - https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/08/08/asymptomatic-coronavirus-covid/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/08/08/asymptomati...

gloriosoc 6y ago
yes agree. And the CDC reports there are 10X the cases of COVID than has been reported based on antibody studies. And there are many more deaths than have been reported https://realscience.community/2020/08/16/why-a-lot-more-people-have-died-from-covid-than-is-being-reported/ https://realscience.community/2020/08/16/why-a-lot-more-peop.... All reasons that we are closer to herd immunity than is the common perception.
- DougN7 6y ago
  Doesn’t herd immunity for a country of 350 million need somewhere on the order of 220 million to have been exposed and recovered? I don’t think we’re anywhere near that yet.
  - gloriosoc 6y ago
    We are at around 50,000,000 cases. It is looking like herd immunity or at least R<1 is happening at around 30%. There are five states so far that have reached that point- NY, NJ, LA, FL, and AZ. So we have 45 more states to go. As a nation we aren't there yet. I would guess that in a few months we will be given the pace at which this is happening.
    - nickthemagicman 6y ago
      This has been reported from a number of places as a possibility. Coronaviruses are a member of the virus group that give us common cold and one theory is that the common cold has cross reactivity with Covid immunologically. So there may be a huge population with built in immunity. Sweden has had tiny amounts of deaths for weeks, New Zealand, I think Italy and some other countries as well. It's not just the U.S. it's other countries.
    - hellofunk 6y ago
      > We are at around 50,000,000 cases. Where is that number coming from? If you were talking about United States, you were off by a factor of 10! If you’re talking about the whole world, you’re still off by a factor of two! At least as far as confirmed cases goes. We can all assume the number of actual cases is greater than the number of confirmed cases. How much greater, it’s really hard to say, especially as testing has ramped up significantly and I even know Americans who are getting multiple tests with quick responses in certain locations. So you can’t just make up a number as a guess and then use it as evidence.
      - gloriosoc 6y ago
        The CDC has said we are underestimating infection rates by a factor of 10 based on antibody testing. We have undertested the population and therefore have only captured 10% of the cases.
  - ekianjo 6y ago
    How do you define that 220 is the right number?
anoncake 6y ago
> Apparently T-cells will "remember" an infection after a person is exposed That is not a "huge development". The basic workings of the immune system have been known for decades. I used to think this was common knowledge.
- mikem170 6y ago
  The huge development is that they found this T-cell mechanism active already in relation to covid-19 for a large percentage of sampled populations. Current antibody tests are only looking at B-cells. It's good news and nobody talks about it.

gloriosoc 6y ago

yes agree. And the CDC reports there are 10X the cases of COVID than has been reported based on antibody studies. And there are many more deaths than have been reported https://realscience.community/2020/08/16/why-a-lot-more-people-have-died-from-covid-than-is-being-reported/ https://realscience.community/2020/08/16/why-a-lot-more-peop.... All reasons that we are closer to herd immunity than is the common perception.

DougN7 6y ago
Doesn’t herd immunity for a country of 350 million need somewhere on the order of 220 million to have been exposed and recovered? I don’t think we’re anywhere near that yet.
- gloriosoc 6y ago
  We are at around 50,000,000 cases. It is looking like herd immunity or at least R<1 is happening at around 30%. There are five states so far that have reached that point- NY, NJ, LA, FL, and AZ. So we have 45 more states to go. As a nation we aren't there yet. I would guess that in a few months we will be given the pace at which this is happening.
  - nickthemagicman 6y ago
    This has been reported from a number of places as a possibility. Coronaviruses are a member of the virus group that give us common cold and one theory is that the common cold has cross reactivity with Covid immunologically. So there may be a huge population with built in immunity. Sweden has had tiny amounts of deaths for weeks, New Zealand, I think Italy and some other countries as well. It's not just the U.S. it's other countries.
  - hellofunk 6y ago
    > We are at around 50,000,000 cases. Where is that number coming from? If you were talking about United States, you were off by a factor of 10! If you’re talking about the whole world, you’re still off by a factor of two! At least as far as confirmed cases goes. We can all assume the number of actual cases is greater than the number of confirmed cases. How much greater, it’s really hard to say, especially as testing has ramped up significantly and I even know Americans who are getting multiple tests with quick responses in certain locations. So you can’t just make up a number as a guess and then use it as evidence.
    - gloriosoc 6y ago
      The CDC has said we are underestimating infection rates by a factor of 10 based on antibody testing. We have undertested the population and therefore have only captured 10% of the cases.
- ekianjo 6y ago
  How do you define that 220 is the right number?

anoncake 6y ago

> Apparently T-cells will "remember" an infection after a person is exposed That is not a "huge development". The basic workings of the immune system have been known for decades. I used to think this was common knowledge.

mikem170 6y ago
The huge development is that they found this T-cell mechanism active already in relation to covid-19 for a large percentage of sampled populations. Current antibody tests are only looking at B-cells. It's good news and nobody talks about it.