Australia: Researchers map patient's immune response against coronavirus

Researchers in Australia said that they have mapped the body’s immune response to identify how it fights the novel coronavirus. According to the research published in a science journal Nature Medicine, scientists examined the case of a patient who contracted COVID-19 in Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, and then travelled to Melbourne where she fell ill.

The 47-year-old woman had a sore throat, dry cough, pleuritic chest pain, mild dyspnea and subjective fevers when she was hospitalised in Melbourne. The researchers said that the woman had no contact with the Huanan seafood market, which is suspected as the origin of the virus outbreak, or with known COVID-19 cases. She didn’t have any past medical condition and was a non-smoker taking no medications.

The woman was described as “mild-to-moderate” case and did not require to put on a ventilator. She did not experience complications of respiratory failure or acute respiratory distress syndrome and was discharged within a week of hospitalisation. Researchers from the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity got the patient’s permission to participate in the research.

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According to the study, the patient’s body started developing antibodies in the blood before the complete disappearance of symptoms and remained present for at least seven days after she completely recovered. While the research has been limited to a single patient and additional cases would provide definitive information, the study has been considered as a promising step in the fight against the deadly virus.

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Race for vaccine

Recently, a German biotech firm said that it has been focussing on the development of mRNA-based coronavirus vaccine to protect people worldwide. As per the local media reports, US President Donald Trump wanted to buy exclusive access to a potential coronavirus vaccine developed by CureVac. However, Germany’s Finance Minister Heiko Mass asserted that the rights to coronavirus vaccine research are not for sale.

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