Is This Guy a COVID-19 Superdoger?
I bowl with this guy who is 42, and has never received any SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. He's suspicious of mRNA tech and worries that people who have been jabbed will suffer some horrible fate in several years, by which time some unspecified genetic process will have had enough time to do its dirtywork.
He has also never worn a mask. Despite all this he has never been infected (that he knows of).
Did I mention that he's also an Uber driver? How can this be?!
Back in July I blogged about NOVIDS, of which I am one. That post summarized four explanations scientists have for people who never become infected despite exposure. Health workers in the pre-vaccine days are the prime example, but my bowling buddy would fit the category.
One explanation for NOVIDs was that genetics may convey protection. Another was that prior exposure to coronaviruses may have primed their immune systems to fight off the virus.
This week I saw a story about research underway to figure out what is going on with "superdodgers" who never get infected despite repeated and intense exposure to the virus. This group of people is a little different than the larger NOVID group, some of whom may have escaped infection by being super careful.
The research effort is being led by a consortium called the COVID Human Genetic Effort. Their approach applies lessons-learned from HIV research.
Without getting too much in the weeds, back in the day researchers were puzzled by people who never got HIV despite having unprotected sex. They found a mutation on a gene called CCR5 that was present in those who never got infected.
They are now extending this method to figure out what is up with superdodgers. Though the research is still underway, they are starting to get some ideas.
SARS-CoV-2 has a different method of invading cells than HIV, through the ACE2 receptor. To now, scientists have focused on ithe ACE2 characteristics to see if there are any mutations that protect some people from getting infected (this was noted in the earlier blog).
People behind the current effort are skeptical of this approach. Although there could be some subtle differences between individuals, one researcher notes that "the receptor regulates your blood pressure. You're not going to have many people walking around that don't have ACE2."
So they are targeting a gene called HLA. It doesn't prevent you from getting infected, but it seems to help those infected to clear SARS-CoV-2 infections so fast their body never shows symptoms.
The trick is that for this protection to manifest itself you need to have been exposed to some kind of coronavirus in the past. This, in combination with the HLA mutation, supercharges your immune system t-cells to attack and clear coronaviruses in general.
They don't say if this combination of genes and exposure also prevents you from ever becoming contagious. If not, then superdodgers could be one of the mechanisms by which the disease spreads to less fortunate non-mutated people.
In any case, there is something different about my bowling friend. Maybe me and my sister and mother too, who are also NOVIDS. I wonder where I could get a test to see if I have this mutation...
