A new finger prick blood test can identify people most at risk of being re-infected with Covid-19. The simple test, developed by a small biotech firm based in Cardiff in close collaboration with Cardiff University researchers, measures the presence of immune T cells that can recognise SARS-CoV-2.
More than 300 volunteers were recruited from across the UK in early 2022 to assess the novel test. Individuals with the largest T cell response to the virus were best protected from Covid-19 over the following three months regardless of their levels of antibodies to the virus. Researchers claims the finger-prick tests will help determine which individuals are most vulnerable, and who might need more focused interventions such as repeated booster vaccinations.
Writing in Nature Communications the Cardiff team note the test brings the focus away from ‘just measured’ antibody responses to take into account T cell-mediated immunity. Previous efforts to identify those least protected from reinfection have focused on quantifying antibodies recognising the surface spike protein of SARS-CoV2.
