第2237期:Past COVID Infection Could Protect Against Colds

A new study suggests that people infected with COVID-19 in the past may receive protection against some kinds of common colds.一项新的研究表明，以前感染过COVID-19的人可能会对某些类型的普通感冒产生保护作用。COVID-19 is one of several coronaviruses known to affect humans. The new research found that past COVID-19 infections can lower the risk of getting colds caused by other coronaviruses. Studies have shown coronaviruses account for about one in five colds.COVID-19是已知会影响人类的几种冠状病毒之一。新的研究发现，过去感染过COVID-19的人患其他冠状病毒引起的感冒的风险较低。研究表明，冠状病毒占了大约五分之一的感冒病例。Researchers involved in the study say their results could support future efforts to improve COVID-19 vaccines or develop new ones.参与这项研究的研究人员表示，他们的结果可能会支持未来改进COVID-19疫苗或开发新疫苗的努力。The study examined COVID-19 tests from more than 4,900 people who sought medical care between November 2020 and October 2021.这项研究检查了2020年11月至2021年10月期间寻求医疗护理的超过4900人的COVID-19检测结果。It showed that people previously infected with COVID-19 had a 50 percent lower chance of having a coronavirus-caused cold than those who were fully vaccinated and had not gotten COVID-19.研究显示，以前感染过COVID-19的人患冠状病毒引起的感冒的几率比那些完全接种疫苗但没有感染过COVID-19的人低50%。The research recently appeared in the publication Science Translational Medicine. The lead writer of the study was Dr. Manish Sagar. He is an infectious disease specialist at Boston Medical Center and a professor at Boston University in Massachusetts.这项研究最近发表在《科学转化医学》杂志上。研究的主要作者是马尼什·萨加尔博士。他是波士顿医疗中心的传染病专家，也是马萨诸塞州波士顿大学的教授。Sagar told the Associated Press, “We think there’s going to be a future outbreak of a coronavirus.” He said current coronavirus vaccines might be improved if researchers could copy some of the immune reactions “provided by natural infection.”萨加尔告诉美联社，“我们认为未来会爆发另一种冠状病毒。”他说，如果研究人员能够复制“自然感染提供的”某些免疫反应，目前的冠状病毒疫苗可能会得到改进。Researchers linked the protection against coronavirus-caused colds to virus-killing cell reactions for two viral proteins. These proteins are not currently used in most vaccines. But the researchers have proposed adding them in the future.研究人员将对冠状病毒引起的感冒的保护作用与两种病毒蛋白的杀病毒细胞反应联系起来。目前大多数疫苗中并未使用这些蛋白质。但研究人员提出将来可以添加这些蛋白质。Sagar said this development may lead to future vaccines that could target not only current coronaviruses, but also new ones that might appear.萨加尔表示，这一发展可能会导致未来的疫苗不仅能针对当前的冠状病毒，还能针对可能出现的新冠状病毒。Dr. Wesley Long is a pathologist at Houston Methodist in Texas. He was not involved in the study. Long noted that the findings should not be seen as a weakness of current vaccines. These vaccines target a so-called “spike protein” contained in the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.韦斯利·朗博士是德克萨斯州休斯顿卫理公会医院的一名病理学家。他没有参与这项研究。朗指出，这些发现不应被视为当前疫苗的弱点。这些疫苗针对的是导致COVID-19的SARS-CoV-2病毒中所谓的“刺突蛋白”。Long said those vaccines are “still your best defense against severe COVID-19 infection, hospitalization and death.”朗说，这些疫苗“仍然是防止严重COVID-19感染、住院和死亡的最佳防御措施。”But Long added that new targets could be added to existing vaccines in an effort to “cross-protect against multiple viruses.” This process, he said, could result in wider immunity from a single vaccine.但朗补充说，可以在现有疫苗中添加新的目标，以“交叉保护多种病毒”。他说，这一过程可能会使单一疫苗产生更广泛的免疫力。