Twenty different COVID-19 variants were effectively identified and neutralized after a third booster, according to a new study.
University of Surrey
Twenty
different COVID-19 variants were effectively identified and neutralised after a
third booster, according to the new study for which the University of Surrey
provided the crucial antigenic map of variants of concern.
ROGELIO V. SOLIS/AP
While
the study's results suggested that immunity decreases 20 weeks after
vaccination, a third booster (of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, in the case of
this study) helped the immune system to identify and neutralise the 20
different variants.
The
antigenic map allowed the team to identify and measure how each variant
impacted the immune system.
Dr Daniel Horton, co-author of the study and Reader in Veterinary Virology at the University of Surrey, said:
"The
emergence of this disease and its disruptive and deadly impact on our
day-to-day lives demonstrates how crucial it is for the scientific community to
work together to identify and characterise infectious diseases quickly.
"The
University of Surrey's contribution to this study through the mapping of the
various variants is itself part of a landmark €90 million collaborative effort
to tackle zoonotic diseases in Europe, reflecting our focus on understanding
the inextricable links between the health of animals, humans and, indeed, the
planet we all share."
The
Pirbright Institute led this collaborative study with scientists from the
University of Surrey, Imperial College in London and the UK Health Security
Agency (UKHSA) to understand the immune response of individuals aged 70-89 who
had received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
This
vaccine works by triggering the immune system to create Y-shaped proteins,
known as antibodies, that can stick to the spike proteins which are found on
the surface of the coronavirus. If a person is infected with SARS-CoV-2, the
antibodies bind the spike proteins preventing the virus from attaching to and
entering the human cell, therefore helping to protect from severe disease.
Antibodies also act as a beacon to alert the immune system to help fight the
infection.
Dr
Dalan Bailey, Head of the Viral Glycoproteins group at Pirbright, said:
"Understanding
how the levels of neutralising antibodies relate to a well-defined immune
response will be an important step in understanding how the immune system
responds to SARS-CoV-2 and could also help in the management of Covid-19.
"This
information could help us to understand whether the risk of breakthrough
infections, hospitalisation and death is increased by waning immunity or new
variants. Research comparing immune responses to different SARS-CoV-2 variants
and understanding the role of different mutations is vital in the management of
the Covid-19 pandemic and in predicting the outcome of new variants."
The
research was published in Nature Microbiology.
Story
Source:
