This is a curious story, even though it’s common: A household is hit with Covid. But one member of the family never gets a positive test or has a sniffle.
Meanwhile, there are people who have received Covid but were double-jabbed or boosted and still get the virus.
As infections continue to soar in the new Omicron wave – an astonishing one in 25 people in England have Covid, according to Office for National Statistics data – cases of people who managed to stay free of the infection become ever more remarkable. Or is this luck? Is it some kind of superpower
Researchers may soon have an answer. Evidence is mounting that Covid-resistant individuals exist.
These people are believed to be immune to the Covidvirus, although this is not clear.
It is currently the topic of extensive research all over the globe.
Nasim Forooghi (pictured), 46-year-old cardiac research nurse at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Central London has been possibly exposed to Covid infected people since the outbreak. But, she had several antibody tests and found that there was no sign of Covid in her system.
Evidence is mounting that certain people may be Covid-resistant.
And at University College London (UCL), scientists are studying blood samples from hundreds of healthcare staff who – seemingly against all odds – avoided catching the virus (file image)
Scientists believe that the lucky people could be able to reveal clues that can help create a new variant of a vaccine that would keep Covid away forever.
Scientists in Brazil and America are investigating genetic mutations that may make it more difficult for certain individuals to contract the virus.
And at University College London (UCL), scientists are studying blood samples from hundreds of healthcare staff who – seemingly against all odds – avoided catching the virus.
One such frontline worker is Lisa Stockwell, a 34-year-old nurse from Somerset who worked in A&E and, for most of 2020, in a ‘hot’ admissions unit where Covid-infected patients were first assessed.
She signed up with a nursing agency towards the end last year, where she was assigned daily shifts on Covid wards.
Her colleagues have been referred to as ‘dropping like flies’ by their coworkers at different points during the pandemic.
However, she said that “I wasn’t sick” and her antibody test which was taken at the conclusion of 2020 before my vaccination was completed, came back negative.
I expected to be positive at some point but this never happened. Although I am not sure if I have an immune system that is very strong, I feel grateful to not have been sick.
Lisa and her family were among the first to succumb to the disease during the pandemic.
She says that she was “sick for over two weeks and had a terrible fever which left me delirious.”
“He was very sick, but refused hospitalization.
“Despite sharing a bed, I never caught it.
“And my mother was completely shocked, even though she is now 63 years old and has rarely been seriously ill.”
“I even drove a friend of mine to work each day for two weeks. But, days later, I was laid low by Covid.
Lisa had 2 jabs, and Lisa needs a booster.
And like millions of us, she uses a lateral flow test before socialising – but never because she fears she has Covid symptoms.
She said, “I used to work every day at Covid wards in PPE of poor quality and was scared that I might catch the disease.”
“But I didn’t do it, and now I think I might never.”
Nasim Forooghi (46), a central London cardiac researcher nurse, had a similar story.
The mother-of-two, whose husband is an NHS doctor, has been heavily involved in research tracking Covid among frontline staff – a role that has potentially exposed her to hundreds of infected people since the pandemic began in early 2020.
Lisa also had several antibody tests that found no evidence of the virus in her body.
Nasim states, “Clearly I was wearing protective clothing. But, even then, I was exposed a lot to infected individuals.”
“I don’t know what it could have been, but I think my strong immune system was responsible. Or maybe luck.
“I went to blood testing every week and they did not find anything, even though I had been exposed to the substance regularly.”
Elle adds that she dealt daily for several weeks with nurses and doctors who worked on the front lines and were face to face with patients at Covid wards.
‘At home, we’ve been lucky, too – neither my husband nor children have caught the virus.’
When the UCL researchers examined the blood of seemingly Covid-proof healthcare workers that had been taken before the vaccine rollout, it confirmed they had no Covid antibodies – meaning it was unlikely they had ever been infected.
But, the researchers discovered that T cells were also present in immune system cells. These cells are very similar to immune systems found in those who had recovered from Covid.
To fight invaders, T cells can be created by your immune system just like antibodies. However, while antibodies prevent viruses from getting into the body’s cells, T cells destroy and attack them.
Now it is known that Covid antibodies may begin to decrease in just a few months after an infection or after vaccination.
Experts suggest that T cells are retained in the system longer, and the virus will be eliminated before the chance for it to infect other cells.
But they are still there.
The theory goes that this protection is due to the fact that it was provided by past regular exposure.
This could have been through their jobs dealing with sick patients or facing other, less destructive types of coronavirus – the type of disease that includes Covid, of which four strains cause common colds.
Of course there is the possibility that the healthcare workers picked up Covid but suffered no symptoms – at the start of the pandemic, up to half of cases were thought to be asymptomatic.
However, the UCL team performed further testing on hundreds more samples of blood collected long before 2011 and found that around one in twenty had antibodies that could eliminate Covid.
The highest levels were found in samples taken from children. Scientists speculate that this may be due to the fact that children are often exposed to cold-causing coronaviruses by being in close contact with many other kids during school and nursery.
It is important to ask: How will scientists use the latest research to develop a vaccine that can be used against variants?
This could lie in how the immune system functions.
Many Covid vaccines replicate the spike protein on the outside of virus cells. This is what allows the virus cells to infect healthy cells and establish camp inside the body.
This triggers your immune system to produce antibodies and T cells to combat the Covid virus should the latter enter your body.
However, Covid vaccines only work if your immune system recognizes the spike protein from a Covidvirus as soon as it infects you.
Like Omicron, if the spike protein is mutated to the extent that it’s almost inaccessible to the immune system (or becomes nearly unrecognisable), both T cells and antibodies will be less effective.
This is the point where UCL’s findings are most relevant. The most plausible explanation for the Covid-proof immunity system may be that it recognizes proteins inside the virus, rather than its surface, and is then capable of detecting and eliminating any mutant relatives.
There are few differences between the coronaviruses. Professor Andrew Easton from Warwick University says that internal proteins are not susceptible to mutations at the rate of external ones.
These stable proteins have been sought out by vaccine-makers. Emergex, a biotechnology company based in Oxfordshire is currently testing one.
It has developed a skin patch – rather than a jab – which sticks on the upper arm. It uses tiny, painless micro-needles to puncture the skin. Fragments of various viral proteins can seep into the bloodstream.
The initial trials, which involved 26 volunteers, will begin in Switzerland. Results are expected to be available by June.
“These Covid vaccines of second generation will focus on parts of the virus less susceptible to changing than spike protein,” says Lawrence Young, a Warwick University virologist.
“They target virus parts that are common to different virus families, thus they can be active not just against Covid-19, but also all coronaviruses.
‘Proteins other than the spike protein are much less flexible and less likely to change – they will be much less of a moving target.’
With more than half of the population getting a crucial third dose that provides protection at minimum 70% against Omicron-related symptoms, the booster program is already a great success.
Scientists warn that more vaccine-resistant strains are inevitable.
Prof Young says that the reason the public is so excited about booster jabs at the moment is because of Omicron’s fear and panic.
“But we have to be careful. If we ask people to take extra vaccines, it is a problem. We know from other vaccination programs that compliance decreases.
One example is flu jabs. Only two-thirds (or less) of UK citizens who were eligible for flu vaccinations, which are given once per year, had ever taken the time to get it before the Covid pandemic. The pandemic triggered a huge surge – to 91 per cent.
Another plausible hypothesis is that natural Covid resistance – and a potential preventative treatment – lies in the genes.
Researchers at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil have discovered that 100 couples were infected with the Covid-specific antibody. One of the infected was symptomatic and the other had never been tested positive. Blood tests also confirmed that they did not have the antibodies. This makes it unlikely that they ever contracted the virus. They will also have their DNA tested to determine whether there is any significant difference.
Mayana Zatz (the lead researcher) and genetics expert said that it was relatively easy to find volunteers for the Covid study. “We got about 1000 emails from people stating that they were in the same situation.”
It has also been observed that genetic resistance can be found with other viruses. Doctors discovered that Stephen Crohn (an American man) had not been infected by HIV, even though he was exposed to many HIV-positive people.
The big question is, how will the new research help scientists develop a variant-proof vaccine? (Pictured: A member of the public receives a dose of a Covid-19 vaccine inside a vaccination centre set up at Grim’s Dyke Golf Club in north west London on Christmas Eve, 2021)
He was found to have a mutation in HIV that hinders its ability to penetrate the cells of his body.
Jean-Laurent Casanova is an immunologist at Rockefeller University in New York. He has been researching how genes affect the severity and duration of Covid disease that an individual with Covid suffers. Now, he’s focusing on Covid resistance. According to him, if you knew that you were resistant, then you would be more relaxed. King Kong would make you feel great, wouldn’t he?
Dr Casanova proposes that “gene blocking” treatments may one day be made available for people who have not developed resistance to the virus. They would also, unlike standard vaccines, be effective against new variants and eliminate the need for boosters.
Some experts are optimistic, stating that scientists may have already found the right jab. Professor Julian Tang of Leicester University is a virus researcher. He says that he believes the virus will be enough to end this pandemic. It seems like it’s evolving into something more benign.
‘The history of many viruses – including the Spanish flu of 1918 – is that they become more harmless in time. Omicron appears to be significantly less severe than other variants. However, it’s surprising it happened so quickly.
“I had expected the transition from dangerous and deadly virus to be a gradual process that would last five to ten more years. But it appears it may happen faster than I thought.”