Study: Dengue antibodies could provide immunity against Covid

The study was being published ahead of peer review on the MedRxiv preprint server and will be submitted to a scientific journal. It highlights a significant correlation between lower incidence, mortality and growth rate of COVID-19 in populations in Brazil where the levels of antibodies to dengue were higher.

Brazil has the world's third highest total of COVID-19 infections with more than 4.4 million cases – behind only the United States and India. In states such as Parana, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Mato Grosso do Sul and Minas Gerais, with a high incidence of dengue last year and early this year, COVID-19 took much longer to reach a level of high community transmission compared to states such as Amapá, Maranhão and Pará that had fewer dengue cases.

The team found a similar relationship between dengue outbreaks and a slower spread of COVID-19 in other parts of Latin America, as well as Asia and islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Nicolelis said his team came across the dengue discovery by accident, during a study focused on how COVID-19 had spread through Brazil, in which they found that highways played a major role in the distribution of cases across the country.

After identifying certain case-free spots on the map, the team went in search of possible explanations. A breakthrough came when the team compared the spread of dengue with that of the coronavirus. "It was a shock. It was a total accident," Nicolelis said. "In science, that happens, you're shooting at one thing and you hit a target that you never imagined you would hit."

Source: news.cgtn.com

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