The study said SARS-CoV-2 has been hiding from the immune system by spreading from cell to cellIt's basically an underground form of transmission, author said

The big difference between SARS-CoV that caused SARS in 2003 and SARS-CoV-2 which is causing covid-19 is the reaction to anti bodies. The bad news is SARS-CoV-2 is way smarter than its predecessor from 2003, when it comes to fighting the vaccine, a study shows.

A research published in the 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Journal' said,  the comparison showed that the SARS-CoV that caused SARS in 2003 was more efficient than SARS-CoV-2 at what is called cell-free transmission when freely floating viral particles infected target cells by binding to a receptor on their surface -- but also remained vulnerable to antibodies produced by previous infection and vaccines. 

SARS-CoV-2, on the other hand, is more efficient at cell-to-cell transmission -- which makes it harder to neutralize with antibodies, the study added. 

The study also said SARS-CoV-2 has been hiding from the immune system by spreading from cell to cell. "It's basically an underground form of transmission," said lead author Shan-Lu Liu, a virology professor in the Department of Veterinary Biosciences at The Ohio State University and an investigator in the university's Center for Retrovirus Research.

"SARS-CoV-2 can spread efficiently from cell to cell because there are essentially no blockers from the host immunity. Target cells become donor cells, and it just becomes a wave of spread, as the virus may not get out of the cells," Liu added.

Revealing further details, Liu and colleagues said, “The spike protein on its surface alone enabled cell-to-cell transmission, and yet the virus's primary receptor on target cells -- to which the spike bound -- is not a necessary part of the cell-to-cell transmission operation. Additionally, they found that neutralizing antibodies are less effective against the virus when it spreads through cells."

A major point of this study was comparing SARS-CoV-2 to the coronavirus behind the 2003 SARS outbreak, known as SARS-CoV. The findings helped explain why while the first outbreak led to much higher fatality rates and lasted only eight months, we're about to surpass the two-year mark of the current pandemic, with a majority of cases being asymptomatic. 

Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!!

Log in to our website to save your bookmarks. It'll just take a moment.

Oops! Looks like you have exceeded the limit to bookmark the image. Remove some to bookmark this image.

Your session has expired, please login again.

You are now subscribed to our newsletters. In case you can’t find any email from our side, please check the spam folder.