Special cells with long-term memory could help produce new coronavirus treatments thanks to groundbreaking Australian research.
A study by the Doherty Institute has found that it is possible to establish memory “T cells” that recognise long COVID and fight subsequent infections for two years.
T cells fight viral infections by killing infected cells and can remember what they have encountered.
The study, which focused on the hitherto under-researched area of long-COVID immunity, found that specific T cells within the 31 people tested were able to maintain their key features over the two-year period.
Long COVID is a chronic condition in which people who have COVID-19 experience symptoms for an extended period of time.
It can affect almost every part of the body through extreme fatigue, muscle pain, reduced appetite, sleep problems, and a host of other problems.
Louise Rowntree, a senior researcher at the Doherty Institute, said the study was good news for those with long-haul COVID-19 as it showed their T cells were doing what they are supposed to do.
“It’s really positive news for someone with long COVID… the T cells are establishing themselves and they’re maintaining themselves,” he told AAP.
Australian research could help treat long COVID, which causes many persistent problems
‘The establishment and maintenance of these cells over this two-year period really provides protection against subsequent infection and their responses are really good also after the first vaccination.’
The research could help shape future therapies and vaccines for patients with long COVID-19.
“SARS-CoV-2 vaccines stimulate both antibody and T cell responses, so we’re following T cell responses and it’s definitely encouraging that we need to look at therapies and vaccines that activate both antibodies and T cells,” Dr Rowntree said.
‘Those T cells can help protect when the virus mutates, so they can offer protection even though the virus changes over time.’
In June, the federal government invested $14.5 million in long COVID research to generate better evidence on effective management of the disease in the community.
The money would be used to research how people experience long COVID, the impacts on health systems, the causes and national trials to try to speed up therapies.
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