Research suggests that co-infection with SARS-CoV-2 and the influenza A virus does not represent an imminent threat to humanity
Viruses against viruses. This could be a therapy against SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection. The key, according to a study published in the “Journal of Virology” is which virus comes first.
According to this study, if we get infected with the influenza A virus, the most common, before infecting you with the virus that causes Covid, the response of our immune system to the first infection, that of the influenza virus, can control SARS-CoV-2. However, if it happens in the opposite case, there is not the same effect.
“The research is important because there are now 2 circulating respiratory RNA viruses with high pandemic potential: SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A,” write researchers from New York University-Langone Health (USA). “Since both viruses infect the respiratory tract and can cause significant morbidity and mortality, it is imperative that we also understand the consequences of co-infection.”
Some clinical studies had previously reported SARS-CoV-2 co-infection with other viruses. “At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, before the use of masks and social distancing, there were many cases of co-infection with SARS-CoV-2 and the influenza A virus,” acknowledges researcher Benjamin R. tenOever. The two viruses, he adds, viruses infect the same cells within the respiratory tract..
At the beginning of the pandemic, there were many cases of co-infection with SARS-CoV-2 and the influenza A virus.
Benjamin R. tenOever
New York University-Langone Health
Now, in this research it has been seen that the influenza A virus interferes with the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in the lung and can continue to do so even more than a week after the elimination of influenza A.
“These data suggest the presence of intrinsic or influenza A virus-induced factors that may restrict the growth of SARS-CoV-2, but it is unclear whether this effect plays a role in disease severity,” the authors write. researchers.
The work has been carried out in cultured cells and also in an animal model to which the 2 viruses were administered simultaneously and examined on days 1, 3, 5, 7 and 14 after infection.
The researchers also conducted experiments in which they first infected the animals with either virus, followed three days later by the other virus, monitoring them on days 1, 3 and 5 after inoculation of the second virus.
«This study could be used as an example of how an immune response to something unrelated can provide protection against SARS-CoV-2» warns tenOever.
In addition, the study provides very valuable information: “These results suggest that co-infection with SARS-CoV-2 and the influenza A virus does not represent an imminent threat to humanity,” concludes tenOever.
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