A Study Suggests Dengue Might Provide Some Immunity Against COVID-19

Amidst the current Covid-19 pandemic, it’s aggravating and intimidating to think that there are other threats present in this time of crisis as well.

Such as the spine-chilling dengue fever, for instance.

Truly, it’s something to be feared.

And to make things worse, there are four types of Dengue Virus (DENV) strains, and they are purportedly all equally harmful.

Also, Aedes mosquitoes reportedly bite during the day. A terrifying notion considering how with work from home, we’ve created a buffet for these mosquitoes and the perfect breeding environment for them.

So really, you can kinda understand why 2020 would not have been a choice year for people to live in.

A Study Suggests Dengue Might Provide Some Immunity Against COVID-19

But it seems that at the end of the day…

There may be slight ‘consolation’ in store for all those who ‘suey suey kena’ the Dengue virus.

According to The Straits Times, a new study has discovered a link between the spread of the virus and past instances of dengue fever:

Apparently, exposure to the mosquito-transmitted illness may actually supply some level of immunity against Covid-19.

Talk about a real double-edged sword.

Helmed by Miguel Nicolelis, a professor at Duke University, the yet-to-be-published study had analysed the coronavirus situation in Brazil and compared the geographic apportioning of coronavirus cases with the spread of dengue in 2019 and 2020.

And the results were, to put it mildly, shocking.

According to Nicolelis, places found to have lower coronavirus infection rates and slower case growth were locations which bore the brunt of significant dengue outbreaks this year or last.

Incredibly, the much-dreaded dengue fever may actually be associated with a lower risk of coronavirus infection.

“This striking finding raises the intriguing possibility of immunological cross-reactivity between dengue’s Flavivirus serotypes and Sars-CoV-2,” the study said, referring to dengue virus antibodies and the novel coronavirus.

“If proven correct, this hypothesis could mean that dengue infection or immunisation with an efficacious and safe dengue vaccine could produce some level of immunological protection” against the coronavirus, it added.

Interestingly, Nicolelis has told Reuters in an exclusive interview that in previous studies, people with dengue antibodies in their blood have been found to be at risk of testing positive for Covid-19, even if they have never actually been infected.

And apparently, this indicates a ludicrous-sounding connection between the two viruses, which essentially hail from different pathological set-ups.

“This indicates that there is an immunological interaction between two viruses that nobody could have expected because the two viruses are from completely different families,” Nicolelis said.

However, he admitted that further research will be needed to prove the theory correct.

A Chance Encounter

Lest you’re wondering, the breakthrough, like every impactful discovery in the past, seems to have been unearthed through a “total accident”.

“It was a shock. It was a total accident,” Nicolelis said. Apparently, the team had been hard at work finding possible explanations, when they happened to come across the comparison.

But Nicolelis took it in his stride.

“In science, that happens, you’re shooting at one thing and you hit a target that you never imagined you would hit.”

According to The Straits Times, Brazil has the world’s third-highest total of Covid-19 infections with more than 4.4 million cases, behind only the United States and India.

In states such as Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul and Mato Grosso do Sul, which ‘boast’ a high incidence of dengue last year and early this year, the pandemic took a significantly longer time to reach a level of “high community transmission” as compared to states such as Amapá, Maranhão and Pará, which have a lower incidence of dengue.

A similar trend was also observed in other parts of Latin America, as well as Asia. Islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans have also played host to the notion.

Dengue Cases Are On The Rise

On a side note, dengue cases have been especially prevalent in Singapore in the year 2020.

Until 2020, weekly infections never went to 900 cases or even 800 per week. However, in the week ending 20 June 2020, there were 1,374 cases. And in the first 5 days of a subsequent week, it’s 1,138.

It was supposedly the highest the nation has seen since the peak dengue years in 2013 and 2014.

And how telling that the rise of dengue cases is happening synonymously with a relatively low occurrence of Covid-19 community cases. Certainly lends weight to Nicolelis’ study, that’s for sure.

But we do not have to take one without the other.

With the appropriate measures, we can prevent both from happening at the same time.

See, Aedes mosquitoes are not a fussy bunch when it comes to their breeding ground.

A small patch of clean and stagnant water about the size of a 20 cent coin is all they need to reproduce.

And that is why we must always make sure to remove stagnant water in our homes and spray mosquito repellent in all the right areas.

Dark corners, such as underneath your sofa and behind your curtains, are definite areas that may be worth noting.

If you’re still not sure, you can view video tutorials on how to wipe out these mozzies in a fast and efficient manner.

And to end off this article, I present the following saying:

“Together, we can make a difference.”

Sure it may sound really cliche…

But in the end, you really can’t deny its viability.

So let’s endeavour to make our country safe again…

In more aspects than one!

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