COLORS WERE ADDED BY THE SOURCE; AP PROVIDES ACCESS TO THIS PUBLICLY DISTRIBUTED HANDOUT PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH; MANDATORY CREDIT FILE - This colorized electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health shows a human T cell, indicated in blue, under attack by HIV, in yellow, the virus that causes AIDS. In a study released in the journal Nature on Thursday, April 28, 2022, climate change will result in thousands of new viruses spread among animal species by 2070, which is likely to increase the risk of emerging infectious diseases jumping from animals to humans. (Seth Pincus, Elizabeth Fischer, Austin Athman/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/NIH via AP)
COLORS WERE ADDED BY THE SOURCE; AP PROVIDES ACCESS TO THIS PUBLICLY DISTRIBUTED HANDOUT PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH; MANDATORY CREDIT FILE - This colorized electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health shows a human T cell, indicated in blue, under attack by HIV, in yellow, the virus that causes AIDS. In a study released in the journal Nature on Thursday, April 28, 2022, climate change will result in thousands of new viruses spread among animal species by 2070, which is likely to increase the risk of emerging infectious diseases jumping from animals to humans. (Seth Pincus, Elizabeth Fischer, Austin Athman/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/NIH via AP)
WATERLOO REGION — Emergency wards remain busy two years after the first COVID-19 vaccines arrived in Ontario in part because the virus depletes the body’s supply of T-cells, leaving young and old alike vulnerable to secondary infections, says a University of Waterloo immunologist.
T-cells are the front-line soldiers of the immune system, and the number of T-cells typically increases when the body is fighting off an infection, said Barb Katzenback, who studies viruses.
“Individuals who are infected with COVID have many fewer T-cells,” said Katzenback. “That’s a problem for us because T-cells are a really important part of our immune system that helps defend us against infection.”
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
But at least three studies show COVID-19 actually kills off a significant number of the body’s T-cells, so even when a someone recovers from COVID, they are at a heightened risk for other viral, bacterial and fungal infections.
“That is causing a lot of people to go to the emergency rooms, rightly so, to seek medical aid and it is overwhelming our health care system,” said Katzenback.
The only other virus that attacks and kills T-cells is HIV, which causes AIDS, said Katzenback.
To be clear, nobody is equating COVID’s impact on T-cells to what HIV did to immune systems before effective retroviral treatments were developed. But COVID-19 does eliminate a significant number of T-cells, enough to make large numbers of sick people overwhelm emergency wards with RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), pneumonia, strep infections and other ailments.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
“With the loss of these T-cells, we are now more vulnerable to all of these other infections, other viruses, other bacteria,” said Katzenback.
“They are getting in and causing disease — and often more severe disease than what we might have seen previously,” said Katzenback.
She said COVID-19 sparks what is called “programmed cell death” among T-cells.
Cells in the human body do this naturally as they age, but COVID-19 causes healthy T-cells to die that would otherwise be available to fight off infections.
“The fallout from all of this is more secondary infections, more extreme infections and mortality, or people dying because of these infections,” said Katzenback.
Many people who have had COVID brush it off, saying it was no worse than a bad case of the flu. What they don’t know is that they are more vulnerable to secondary infections that may cause them to seek help at a hospital emergency ward.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
Vaccines work, she said, but COVID mutates rapidly.
“So it is important to be up to date with your vaccines,” said Katzenback. “And wear a good-quality N-95 mask to protect yourself and your loved ones.”
Terry Pender is a Waterloo Region-based general assignment
reporter for The Record. Reach him via email: tpender@therecord.com
