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Medicine Science

COVID-19 Vaccines May Trigger Superimmunity In People Who Had SARS Long Ago (sciencemag.org) 133

sciencehabit shares a report from Science Magazine: Almost 20 years before SARS-CoV-2, a related and even more lethal coronavirus sowed panic, killing nearly 10% of the 8000 people who became infected. But the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) may have left some survivors with a gift. Former SARS patients who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 appear able to fend off all variants of SARS-CoV-2 in circulation, as well as ones that may soon emerge, a new study suggests. Their formidable antibodies may even protect against coronaviruses in other species that have yet to make the jump into humans -- and may hold clues to how to make a so-called pancoronavirus vaccine that could forestall future outbreaks.

A team led by emerging disease specialist Linfa Wang from Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore identified eight SARS survivors who recently received two shots of a messenger RNA COVID-19 vaccine. In the test tube, antibodies sieved from their blood potently "neutralized" an early strain of SARS-CoV-2 as well as SARS-CoV, the virus that caused SARS, Wang and colleagues report today in The New England Journal of Medicine. The team further found these neutralizing antibodies worked well against the Alpha, Beta, and Delta variants of SARS-CoV-2 and stymied five related coronaviruses found in bats and pangolins that potentially could infect humans.

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COVID-19 Vaccines May Trigger Superimmunity In People Who Had SARS Long Ago

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  • Antibodies developed by 8 out of 8000 people does not a trend make. They could have developed those antibodies due to many other causes.

    Also, since it appears that no testing was done prior to the Covid-19 vaccination, we really have no way of knowing whether or not the Covid-19 vaccination played any part in the development of super antibodies.
    • by MoHaG ( 1002926 ) on Thursday August 19, 2021 @03:31AM (#61706987) Homepage

      What this shows, is confirmation that such a response is possible, which means that it might be possible to develop a vaccine that stops all of those viruses and potential future similar ones.

      • by MrL0G1C ( 867445 )

        What this shows, is confirmation that such a response is possible, which means that it might be possible to develop a vaccine that stops all of those viruses and potential future similar ones.

        I'd love to know if this is true. I wonder if in the future we could have vaccines on standby that would combat most possible future plagues by creating in advance vaccines that target the common parts of previous families of dangerous viruses.

        How fast can the vaccine companies make a new vaccine that targets common pa

        • > I'd love to know if this is true. I wonder if in the future we could have vaccines on standby that would combat most possible future plagues by creating in advance vaccines that target the common parts of previous families of dangerous viruses.

          It's an interesting thing to think about.

          Depending on the source, it took either one day or two days to make the COVID-19 vaccine. It's the testing that takes a long time.

          So a question would be if we would be able to effectively test a broad-spectrum vaccine to g

    • by evanh ( 627108 )

      Adding to the other comment, these antibodies will also make for excellent cloning material as well. A wide ranging antibody serum will be extremely handy in intensive care units.

    • by Lianed ( 1549787 ) on Thursday August 19, 2021 @04:42AM (#61707051)

      Also, since it appears that no testing was done prior to the Covid-19 vaccination, we really have no way of knowing whether or not the Covid-19 vaccination played any part in the development of super antibodies.

      Not true, at least not exactly. From the serum panels reported on the study:

      Five serum panels were included in this study. The SARS-CoV-1–patient panel consisted of serum specimens obtained from 10 SARS-CoV-1 infection survivors in Singapore at different time points (2012 and 2020) before the vaccination program started in January 2021. The SARS-CoV-2–patient panel consisted of 10 serum specimens obtained from patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection during 2020 as part of a national longitudinal study. The healthy–vaccinated panel consisted of 10 serum specimens obtained at day 14 after the second dose of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine, which is equivalent to 35 days after the first dose. The SARS-CoV-2–vaccinated panel consisted of 10 serum specimens obtained from Covid-19 survivors who had received two doses of BNT162b2 vaccine. The SARS-CoV-1–vaccinated panel consisted of 8 serum specimens obtained from SARS-CoV-1 infection survivors 21 to 62 days after the first BNT162b2 vaccination; 4 of the 8 specimens were obtained from patients whose serum was in the SARS-CoV-1–patient panel.

      Pay attention to the very first serum panel: "The SARS-CoV-1–patient panel consisted of serum specimens obtained from 10 SARS-CoV-1 infection survivors in Singapore at different time points (2012 and 2020) BEFORE the vaccination program started in January 2021." and now to the last one: "4 of the 8 specimens [regarding the SARS-CoV-1–vaccinated serum panel] were obtained from patients whose serum was in the SARS-CoV-1–patient panel.". So they did indeed tested the before and after: at least 4 of the 8 serums used, that confirmed the results, had been tested before and after inoculation with the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine. Can other factors be at play as well? Of course, but there's some tests done and control groups in place.

    • by gweihir ( 88907 )

      This is called "Science". You are obviously not conversant with how that thing works. Here is a hint: You observe. You find things. You form theories. You firm up or invalidate these theories. You understand things better. You develop things that are useful. This is in an earlier stage of this process and, yes, it is very pertinent. It is just not a final result.

    • by cusco ( 717999 )

      Unlikely. Antibodies to SARS viruses develop due to exposure to those viruses or components of those viruses. What "many other causes" can generate antibodies to a specific type of virus?

  • The article doesn't say. Did they study SARS survivors that had not been vaccinated to see how affective their antibodies were as well?

    This is also a case of natural selection, to some extent. If a person's natural immune system is weak, there is a much greater chance of them dying from the disease. The higher the mortality rate of the disease, the more efficient it is at killing those with weaker immune systems. It's like forcing a group of people to try and climb a mountain, and then noting that for s

    • by bws111 ( 1216812 )

      The paper says they had 8 specimens collected from SARS survivors in 2012 and 2020. 4 of those people also had vaccinations later.

  • I thought that was the normal path to super powers?
  • I guess I just need to get somebody who had the original SARS to cough on me. Once I get over that, I can stop worrying about any type of infections!
  • Are the variants being engineered by splicing parts of SARS into the existing Covid-19 virus? In any case, why not produce a SARS+Covid-19 vaccine which would boost immunity against both?
  • What's in it for us?
    Do we have to rub against a camel?

    • 'Do we have to rub against a camel?' - You are thinking of MERS. You get that one from washing your face with camel piss.

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