The omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 has caused another major wave of infection worldwide.
This is because even vaccinated individuals or those who had contracted a previous variant of the virus can become infected with omicron. Nevertheless, severe courses are relatively rare.
Scientists from the University of Freiburg found how cross-variant protection against infection or severe disease progression arises.
The research is published in the journal Nature Microbiology and was conducted by Dr. Maike Hofmann et al.
In the study, the team was able to show in our study that memory T cells formed after vaccination or infection with an earlier SARS-CoV-2 variant can also recognize the omicron variant very well and protect against a severe course of infection.
The binding ability of the antibodies to the omicron variant is greatly reduced. Therefore, even after a vaccination booster, they protect only quite briefly against infection with the omicron variant.
The scientists also examined possible differences in the immune responses of the recovered and the vaccinated.
Both groups have a broad T-cell response: in recovered individuals, the T-cells recognize multiple viral proteins.
In the vaccinated, the immune response is essentially directed against the spike protein, which is, after all, made from the mRNA vaccine in the body and then causes the immune response.
The T-cell response against the spike protein is broader and stronger in vaccinated individuals than in recovered individuals.
The team says if recovered persons are vaccinated, T-cell responses also turn out to be more diverse, thus increasing protection against severe disease progression in future infections.
The study makes a significant contribution to providing a more complete picture of immune protection in the context of SARS-CoV-2.
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