Is There Really an 'Immune Person' Who Absolutely Never Catches COVID-19?..."Tests Negative Even After Virus Exposure"

Among 34 Participants in 'Human Challenge,' 16 Did Not Contract COVID-19

Medical staff at a hospital in London, England, are preparing to administer the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article. [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] The medical community is paying attention to the discovery that 'super immune individuals' exist who are absolutely not infected even when exposed to the COVID-19 virus.

The British daily The Guardian recently reported on the Human Challenge experiment to overcome COVID-19. The Human Challenge is an experiment in which healthy people are deliberately exposed to the COVID-19 virus, which began in the UK in March last year. The purpose is to observe the reactions occurring inside the human body when the subjects are intentionally infected with COVID-19 and to find treatments and preventive measures against the virus.

Currently, among the 34 participants in the Human Challenge, 16 have not contracted COVID-19. They were not infected even in environments exposed to the virus as well as through direct contact.

In particular, they showed no symptoms. Various tests, including blood tests, also showed no positive reactions.

Among them, Human Challenge participant Phoebe Garrett (22) reportedly made several attempts to get infected with COVID-19. She introduced the virus through her nose and throat and even held parties among infected people. However, she was not infected at all.

Garrett said, "My mother used to say that no one in our family ever catches the flu. There must be something to it."

Professor Christopher Chiu of Imperial College London, who led the Human Challenge, said, "Research on the non-infected participants in the Human Challenge will help develop new COVID-19 treatments and infection prevention."

Meanwhile, various studies on the COVID-19 virus are currently underway. Recently, researchers at University College London (UCL) examined the blood of people who were exposed to COVID-19 but were not infected or who formed antibodies on their own.

As a result, they confirmed the presence of T cells, immune cells that react to the COVID-19 virus, in 15% of the subjects.

Some suggest that there may be people who are genetically resistant to COVID-19.

Professor Andras Spaan of Rockefeller University in the United States said, "We believe that among people who lived in the same space as infected individuals but were not infected, there are those with genetic resistance," adding, "We are searching for rare genetic mutations that can provide complete protection from infection."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.