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Scientists in Australia have mapped immune responses from one of the country’s first novel coronavirus patients to show how the human body fights and recovers from COVID-19.
Experts at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity tested blood samples at four different points in time in an otherwise healthy woman in her 40s. The woman had presented with mild-to-moderate symptoms of COVID-19 that required hospital admission, the researchers said, in a statement.
While COVID-19 is different than influenza, scientists were able to use data from prior patients with influenza to inform their research.
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"We looked at the whole breadth of the immune response in this patient using the knowledge we have built over many years of looking at immune responses in patients hospitalized with influenza," said Dr. Oanh Nguyen in the statement. "Three days after the patient was admitted, we saw large populations of several immune cells, which are often a tell-tale sign of recovery during seasonal influenza infection, so we predicted that the patient would recover in three days, which is what happened."
Researchers were able to harness SETREP-ID (Sentinel Travellers and Research Preparedness for Emerging Infectious Disease), a biological sampling program for returned travelers designed in response to outbreaks of new infectious diseases.
"When COVID-19 emerged, we already had ethics and protocols in place so we could rapidly start looking at the virus and immune system in great detail," said Royal Melbourne Hospital Infectious Diseases Physician Dr. Irani Thevarajan, who leads the SETREP-ID program at the Doherty Institute. "Already established at a number of Melbourne hospitals, we now plan to roll out SETREP-ID as a national study."
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Working with leading influenza immunology researcher and University of Melbourne Professor Katherine Kedzierska, scientists were able to perform important analysis of the immune system’s response to the disease. “The team were able to dissect the immune response leading to successful recovery from COVID-19, which might be the secret to finding an effective vaccine,” researchers said in the statement.
"We showed that even though COVID-19 is caused by a new virus, in an otherwise healthy person, a robust immune response across different cell types was associated with clinical recovery, similar to what we see in influenza," said Kedzierska, who is also a laboratory head at the Doherty Institute.
“This is an incredible step forward in understanding what drives recovery of COVID-19," Kedzierska added. "People can use our methods to understand the immune responses in larger COVID-19 cohorts, and also understand what's lacking in those who have fatal outcomes."
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Thevarajan explained that current estimates indicate more than 80 percent of COVID-19 cases are mild-to-moderate. Gaining a greater understanding of the immune system responds in mild cases is extremely important in the battle against coronavirus.
"We hope to now expand our work nationally and internationally to understand why some people die from COVID-19, and build further knowledge to assist in the rapid response of COVID-19 and future emerging viruses," she said.
The virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, for most people but can be severe in some cases, especially older adults and people with existing health problems. People with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may need six weeks to recover.
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Australia recorded its first coronavirus death earlier this month. A 78-year-old Australian man died in a Perth hospital after being evacuated from a cruise ship that had been quarantined in Japan, according to Sky News.
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As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 189,000 coronavirus cases have been diagnosed worldwide, just over 5,000 of which are in the U.S. The disease has accounted for just over 7,500 deaths around the world, including 91 people in the U.S.
The Associated Press contributed to this article. Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers
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