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mercredi 1 juillet 2020

Yahoo! News - Latest News & Headlines

'Significant number' of people may have some natural immunity to coronavirus
Former Pope Benedict's brother Georg dies at 96
Martin Gugino, the Buffalo protester pushed to the ground and injured by police, released after nearly a month in hospital

'Significant number' of people may have some natural immunity to coronavirus

Posted: 01 Jul 2020 01:54 PM PDT

Large numbers of the population may have natural immunity against coronavirus even if they have never been infected, scientists believe. Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University, who is leading an Oxford team to develop a vaccine, said there was likely to be a "background level" of protection for a "significant number of people". Recent studies have suggested the immune system can be primed by other coronaviruses, such as the common cold, giving the body a head start in fighting off Covid-19. Research shows that a separate part of the immune system, T-cells, respond to chains of amino acids produced by different types of coronaviruses and may be responsible for stopping the virus in people who never show symptoms. Crucially, those T-cells die off in older people, which may be why they are far more likely to develop a more serious illness. Speaking to the Commons science and technology select committee, Sir John said: "What seems clear is you do have cross-reaction from T-cells that are activated by standard endemic coronaviruses. I think they are present in quite a significant number of people.

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Former Pope Benedict's brother Georg dies at 96

Posted: 01 Jul 2020 07:54 AM PDT

Georg Ratzinger, the brother of former Pope Benedict who nurtured a very close relationship over decades to his sibling, has died at the age of 96 in the German town of Regensburg on Wednesday, the local archdiocese said. In June, Benedict, aged 93, had spent five days in his native Germany to visit his ailing brother, who was also a priest. It was the first time that Benedict left Italy since 2013, when he became the first Pope to resign in six centuries.