Immunity explained:

Picture the bodies immune system as a front line of troops protecting an empire. Soldiers stand on watchtowers, patrol dark woods and forests, and check every individual they encounter for contraband.

If the enemy is spotted, the troops lock ranks and descend upon the invader without mercy, taking his head in the process.

These military divisions, called T-Cells, are charged with keeping our body healthy. They stand guard protecting us as a swarm of bees protects it’s queen.

But as with any trained unit, one blind sided ambush can change the direction of a war instantly. Using the same approach with a sneak attack as HIV, the moisture born pathogen known as Covid-19 goes to work.

A new hope: Interlukin 7

Covid-19 employs a set of tactics that yet alludes the brightest minds on the planet. On describing the virus and it’s methodology, Prof Adrian Hayday from the Crick Institute described the Coronavirus as ‘pulling the rug’ from underneath the feet of our bodies immune system, and recent testing bare this out:

In one microlitre (0.001ml) of blood, healthy adults entertain between 2,000 and 4,000 T-Cells. In many severely ill Covid patients however the count suddenly drops to 200-1,200, and it’s still not understood why, however hope lays on the horizon.

A brand new drug called Interleukin 7, could provide a potential cure by giving our bodies T-Cell count a much needed boost when numbers start to fall. Researches believe this discovery paves the way for fingerprint tests, taking the role of a Head Master at school calling names from a register and waiting for a reply.

If class numbers aren’t what they should be, fresh pupils are drafted in before the school is permanently closed. According to Manu Shankar-Hari, a critical care consultant at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, just under three quarters of the Covid patients that come in to his ward have very low levels of immunity.

Between 400-800 T-Cells for every micro-litre of blood to be exact. When the recovery process starts to take affect, this count starts to rise.

Up to now Interluekin 7 has been administered to people suffering with sepsis, and encouraging results have been observed. It’s these results scientists hope to replicate in the next round of testing for critical care patients with low immunity for Covid-19.

Herd immunity:

For Interlukin-7 to prove truly successful, society must achieve something referred by scientists as ‘herd immunity.’ Herd immunity relies on curing between 60-70% of an infected populous. As the pandemic is by definition global, reaching this kind of percentage would require a figure of billions. Take a look at this recent article for a more indepth view of Herd Immunity.

In an attempt to spark the bodies immune system in to action, scientists in Oxford have employed a fascinating ‘plug and play’ approach in order to create a counterfeit version of the virus. Genetic code taken from the real virus is inserted in to a harmless ‘shell’ virus that affects chimps.

The insertion allows the shell virus to resemble the real thing long enough to provide the body in to a full blown immune response.

When can we expect a vaccine?:

Normally a vaccine can take years to develop, especially if said vaccine is engaged in a fight with global reach. In the present effort, researchers are attempting to squeeze the same process in to a few months. Most scientists and experts believe a vaccine is likely to become available by mid-2021, around 12-18 months after Sars-CoV-2, first reared its head in the wet markets of the Wuhan province.