Europe is experiencing a third wave of COVID-19 due to the spread of highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variants. A number of positive and negative factors constantly shape the rates of COVID-19 infections, hospitalization, and mortality. Among these factors, the rise in increasingly transmissible variants on one side and the effect of vaccinations on the other side create a picture deeply different from that of the first pandemic wave. Starting from the observation that in several European countries the number of COVID-19 infections in the second and third pandemic wave increased without a proportional rise in disease severity and mortality, we hypothesize the existence of an additional factor influencing SARS-CoV-2 dynamics. This factor consists of an immune defence against severe COVID-19, provided by SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells progressively developing upon natural exposure to low virus doses present in populated environments. As suggested by recent studies, low-dose viral particles entering the respiratory and intestinal tracts may be able to induce T cell memory in the absence of inflammation, potentially resulting in different degrees of immunization. In this scenario, non-pharmaceutical interventions would play a double role, one in the short term by reducing the detrimental spreading of SARS-CoV-2 particles, and one in the long term by allowing the development of a widespread (although heterogeneous and uncontrollable) form of immune protection.

De Angelis, M. L., Francescangeli, F., Rossi, R., Giuliani, A., De Maria Marchiano, R., Zeuner, A., Repeated exposure to subinfectious doses of sars-cov-2 may promote t cell immunity and protection against severe covid-19, <<VIRUSES>>, 2021; 13 (6): 961-N/A. [doi:10.3390/v13060961] [http://hdl.handle.net/10807/183045]

Repeated exposure to subinfectious doses of sars-cov-2 may promote t cell immunity and protection against severe covid-19

De Maria Marchiano, Ruggero
Ultimo
;
2021

Abstract

Europe is experiencing a third wave of COVID-19 due to the spread of highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variants. A number of positive and negative factors constantly shape the rates of COVID-19 infections, hospitalization, and mortality. Among these factors, the rise in increasingly transmissible variants on one side and the effect of vaccinations on the other side create a picture deeply different from that of the first pandemic wave. Starting from the observation that in several European countries the number of COVID-19 infections in the second and third pandemic wave increased without a proportional rise in disease severity and mortality, we hypothesize the existence of an additional factor influencing SARS-CoV-2 dynamics. This factor consists of an immune defence against severe COVID-19, provided by SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells progressively developing upon natural exposure to low virus doses present in populated environments. As suggested by recent studies, low-dose viral particles entering the respiratory and intestinal tracts may be able to induce T cell memory in the absence of inflammation, potentially resulting in different degrees of immunization. In this scenario, non-pharmaceutical interventions would play a double role, one in the short term by reducing the detrimental spreading of SARS-CoV-2 particles, and one in the long term by allowing the development of a widespread (although heterogeneous and uncontrollable) form of immune protection.
2021
Inglese
De Angelis, M. L., Francescangeli, F., Rossi, R., Giuliani, A., De Maria Marchiano, R., Zeuner, A., Repeated exposure to subinfectious doses of sars-cov-2 may promote t cell immunity and protection against severe covid-19, <<VIRUSES>>, 2021; 13 (6): 961-N/A. [doi:10.3390/v13060961] [http://hdl.handle.net/10807/183045]
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