COVID-19 and immune system

3 min readAug 5, 2020

Do young people get affected by COVID-19? Do they not need to wear masks? Since the start of this pandemic I have met people on the opposite ends of the spectrum, some who would wear masks and gloves all the time while others who refuse to use any extra protection or even use sanitizers.

This particular post is to address all of these people and point out some facts that might be helpful in making the decision for yourself.

One can see contrasting studies too on the prevalence and effect on young population. Till recently it was found that COVID-19 effects young population but not as severely as the old population. Similar to the trend of SARS outbreak in 2003, with age the severity of the disease is supposed to increase. Contradicting these studies published until now, a recent study by UCSF said that ‘youth may not shield people from serious disease’. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) reports also mention that hospitalization rates of younger(18–29) population has been increasing too. These reports need to be taken with a grain of salt. The testing rate for COVID-19 in USA has increased and is higher in the population below 50 yrs. There is also the efficacy of public health interventions to be taken into account, for example more and more older people are quarantining in their homes. There are numerous factors that can influence each of these numbers seen and it becomes very difficult to find a general solution for even a county let alone a nation. There are a lot of co-morbidities as well as underlying immune conditions that may or may not have been identified for these individuals.

Talking about immune conditions, let’s look at how this disease affects the immune system. Not a lot is known completely about the mechanism of effects of COVID-19 and a lot of the knowledge is based on research into SARS-CoV and MERS, which previously caused epidemics of acute respiratory syndromes. A balanced and well-coordinated response of the human immune system is important for prevention of any kind of disease, but in the case of SARS-CoV2 the immune system seems to get dis regulated. It has been found that on activation within the body, SARS-CoV2 initiates an excessive pro--inflammatory response(the immune system goes onto hyper war mode — similar to what is seen in hypercytokinemia). This cytokine storm triggers the further life-threatening symptoms seen in COVID-19 patients and hence are a potential therapeutic target for patients. Another important molecule that is being used as a clinical intervention here is TMPRSS2 (camostat mesylate — inhibitor of the cellular host type 2 transmembrane serine protease) which seems to prevent viral entry of SARS-CoV2.

The pathways and mechanisms of viral entry for SARS-CoV2 still seem to be under studied hence we might be missing out on these receptors and pathways that can act as potential vaccine/therapeutic targets. Another observation in the studies done was a reduction in memory T cells which can be implicated in COVID-19 relapse. It is speculated that the virus, similar to SARS-CoV, evades the host immune system and can dampen the immune system, that could support the observation above. Until the exact mechanism and pathology of the action of SARS-CoV2 virus is known we can only work by correlating and trying to act on the observations seen for the 18 million(as of 08/05/20) people affected by it.

After a lot of these confusing questions and behaviors, what is the answer then? Do we need to wear masks and practice social distancing? The answer is yes! As someone who has seen the death of a dear one due to COVID-19, these precautions are super important! It may not affect you with no underlying co-morbidity but if it manages to spread to someone who might have one or one who is in the highly susceptible age bracket of 50+, it might be deadly. It is uncomfortable, it is frustrating, but this pandemic is a time to be a little more kind and understanding and make sure you do your bit. A mask, using sanitizers and trying to maintain a 6 feet distance can do wonders for someone who has a weakened immune system.

I hope we all can be that extra bit careful for everyone around us!

References

COVID-19 and immune system

Written by Devishi Kesar