Doctor explains four reasons why some people don’t catch Covid
4 April 2022, 14:04 | Updated: 4 April 2022, 14:11
The reasons why some people don't get coronavirus have been explained by a doctor.
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A doctor has revealed a list of reasons why some people haven’t caught Covid.
While many people have contracted coronavirus multiple times, others seem to have avoided it for more than two years.
And now Dr Cliona O'Farrelly, a professor of comparative immunology and biochemistry at Trinity College Dublin, has explained the reason this could have happened.
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Speaking on a radio show in Ireland, Dr O’Farrelly’s reasons range from careful behaviour to rare innate immune responses.
The four main reasons are:
- Careful behaviour
- Rare innate immune response
- Socio-economic backgrounds
- Generally good health
The immune response is currently being studied to see if certain people are resistant to the virus.
O'Farrelly explained:
How people live has got a lot to do with their circumstances and then on top of that then is this percentage of people who have what we would call an innate immune signature, that's what we're looking for…
We do have data now that the women who did not become infected had a more innate immune response, that's an immune response that kicks in immediately on encountering the virus and it is the part of the immune system that is right at the site of where the virus is.
A whole lot of people are not becoming infected because they're being super careful and they're to be congratulated.
But in addition to the people who are not getting it because they're very careful there are those with an innate immune system, and we believe that the innate immune system is able to keep the virus away without becoming infected at all.
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When asked whether the nation should still be cautious when it comes to mixing, she added:
People should still be careful because again it's the vulnerable who are going to really suffer and also it's the healthcare system, the health care workers are just exhausted and it's them having work on skeleton staff that is causing huge difficulty. We really should be looking after them now.
