When people get vaccinated or get infected by a pathogen, their bodies fight the foreign substance by producing antibodies. They also create memory cells to remember the foreign invasion, so that future infections can be readily fought by the body by quickly producing the right antibodies. Each human being has different antibodies because an individual’s body remembers the unique vaccines and infections he or she was exposed to over the years.
Through a National Science Foundation RAPID Award, researchers at FIU’s College of Engineering & Computing (CEC), College of Arts, Sciences & Education and Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (HWCOM) are investigating whether it’s possible that antibodies people carry from other viral infections are fighting COVID-19.
This research could explain why some countries, such as New Zealand, may have beaten the coronavirus and why other countries have been more impacted with cases still rising at drastic rates.
Read more at FIU News.