Exposure to the mosquito-borne illness dengue fever might offer some resistance against COVID-19, Reuters reported Monday, citing a new study. The not-yet-published study examined the coronavirus break out in Brazil and found a link between the spread of the virus and previous break outs of dengue fever, according to the newswire. The research study led by Miquel Nicolelis, a teacher at Duke University, apparently compared geographical distribution of coronavirus cases with the spread of dengue in 2019 and 2020. Nicolelis found that places with lower coronavirus infection rates and slower case growth were likewise locations that had actually suffered intense dengue outbreaks this year or last. “This striking finding raises the intriguing possibility of an immunological cross-reactivity in between dengues Flavivirus serotypes and SARS-CoV-2,” the study apparently said, describing dengue virus antibodies and the novel coronavirus.The researcher told Reuters the results are particularly intriguing as previous studies have shown individuals with dengue antibodies in their blood can evaluate incorrectly positive for COVID-19 antibodies even if they have actually not been contaminated by the coronavirus. “This shows that there is an immunological interaction in between 2 infections that no one could have anticipated, because the 2 viruses are from totally various families,” Nicolelis said.He added that additional studies are needed to show the connection.Brazil has reported the third-highest number of coronavirus cases globally, behind the U.S. and India, respectively, according to information put together by Johns Hopkins University. It has reported more than 4.5 million cases and 136,895 deaths.
