HYDERABAD: Do you know of that rarest of rare person among your friends and family who hasn’t contracted Covid-19 at all? They survived the three waves, some of who have not been vaccinated either. Surprised how? Even as researchers are studying if it is possible for people to be exposed to the virus and still not contract it, doctors in the city comment on the same.
One of the questions being asked with respect to the study is if genetic factors play a role in someone being immune to the virus. Dr Jagadeesh Kumar V, consultant physician at KIMS hospitals, Secunderabad, says genetic susceptibility could be one of the reasons some people have not been affected by the virus. “Many diseases, be bacterial, viral or parasital, its susceptibility towards people and the vulnerability depends upon the multiple makeup of the genes. When we talk about Covid-19, children weren’t as affected by the virus as much as adults were. So it’s safe to say that it could be one’s genetic makeup and development.”
He explains that the virus affects the ACE (Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2) receptors in your body, so the amount of receptors present is directly proportional to the damage the virus can create. “So if an individual doesn’t have this receptor, theocratically and logically speaking, the person may never get Covid-19,” he says, adding that most adults, have contracted the disease and the remaining either haven’t shown symptoms or had no antibodies or antigens to detect. So as far as theory is concerned, there seems to be a possibility that certain people cannot get Covid-19.”
According to Dr G Navodaya, consultant, general medicine at Care Hospital, Banjara Hills, it is a difficult task it to find out how and why a person hasn’t and can’t contract Covid-19. “There can be several possibilities which could include taking Covid-19 precautions seriously has the third perpetual to spread, meaning after measles and mumps, the spearing of the RO value of Covid-19 is high. In non-Covid times, we had influenza where people took over-the-counter medicines and this ensured they weren’t affected. We cannot say that a person can’t contract the virus until a serology is done.”
On the other hand Dr Jaychandra, head of the department of pulmonology of Care Hospital, Banjara Hills, disagrees with the fact that people cannot be prone to the virus. “There is no inherent immunity to Covid-19 unless one is vaccinated or has been infected earlier. Everyone should be vaccinated to keep immunity against Covid-19, for the virus is still there,” he concludes.