The COVID-19 vaccine may help fight colds

A woman is vaccinated against COVID-19 in the central Israeli city of Modiyin on 12 January 2022. (Xinhua News Agency)

Berlin, February 13 (Xinhua) -- A new study found that vaccination against covid-19 can not only effectively prevent the occurrence of severe covid-19, but also may play a role in inhibiting other coronaviruses and helping people fight diseases such as the common cold.

In addition to the coronavirus, there are at least six other coronaviruses that infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus and some coronaviruses that cause the common cold, the communique said. Because of the similar structure of spike proteins on the surface of different coronaviruses, the researchers hope to find out whether the COVID-19 vaccine can help contain other coronavirus infections.

The researchers selected 24 volunteers and studied their serum before and after the COVID-19 vaccine. The results found that all volunteers had shown neutralizing activity against multiple coronaviruses that caused the common cold before receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. After receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, this neutralizing effect was enhanced by a factor of 1.5 to 4. The study also found that antibodies produced after vaccination with the new crown vaccine can also have an inhibitory effect on the SARS coronavirus.

The researchers say this suggests that covid-19 vaccination may also have some inhibitory effect on other coronavirus infections, and while unlikely to prevent colds from occurring, they may be able to reduce the frequency of colds, shorten the duration of colds or reduce the severity of colds.

The study has been published in the American journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.