A FEW months into the covid-19 pandemic, it was rare to have a conversation without antibodies, vaccines and viruses being mentioned in the same breath. More than three years on, we shouldn’t let that interest wane – especially as we face one of the coronavirus’s latest variants, XBB.1.5, or “Kraken” as some have named it.
It certainly appears to be deserving of its monster moniker. This subvariant of omicron is now the dominant strain in the US and is spreading rapidly throughout Europe and Asia.
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It is the most transmissible subvariant discovered yet, due to changes in its spike protein, the part of the virus targeted by vaccines. The World Health Organization has warned that it may also have the best ability to evade our immune defences to date, although vaccines will still remain effective against severe disease.
This is an important reminder that we must continue to focus on pandemic preparedness, disease monitoring and the pursuit of knowledge about our own immune system. In doing so, we will be in the best position to face the inevitable curveballs that this coronavirus – and other pathogens – continue to throw us.
To help with this endeavour, we have answered eight of the biggest questions in immunology in our special issue beginning on “How to tell if your immune system is weak or strong”. There you can start by discovering how strong your immune system is – or isn’t. If it is failing to live up to its full potential, perhaps a change of diet could help (see “The food and drink that really can boost your immune system”).
We also take a look at the cutting-edge immunotherapies that are working against cancer (How genetically engineered immune cells are beating some cancers) and discover the secrets of those annoying people who never seem to get sick (Why do some people appear to have a naturally strong immune system?). Plus, there is surprisingly good news about how lockdowns affected our children’s health (What effect did lockdown have on your child’s immune system?) – and the special contains much more besides.
As we work on ways to stop Kraken and its ilk from spreading outside our bodies, we can also bolster our own immune systems to help them fight for us from within.
