Two Mechanisms Potentially Improving Acquired Immunity to COVID-19: The Common Cold and Breastmilk

People who have been exposed to a seasonal “common cold” may experience less severe COVID-19 symptoms.

While we’ve discussed this topic previously, a study from the Journal of Clinical Investigation reports the first clinical evidence of cross reactivity with the common cold and COVID. This is due to previous immune responses against the four endemic coronaviruses that cause the common cold and pneumonia.

The clinical findings are based on reviewing PCR tests from nearly 16,000 patients at the Boston Medical Center between 2015 and 2020. 875 of these patients tested positive for an endemic coronavirus and over 15,000 patients never showed a documented coronavirus infection. About 11% or 1,800 patients returned between March and June 2020 for the SARS-CoV-2 test. After comparing between test results between those with known endemic coronavirus infections and those without infection, the authors concluded that recent infection with the endemic coronaviruses didn’t keep patients from being infected with COVID-19, but that COVID-19 is much less severe in patients with the previous endemic infection. Specifically, 4.8% of hospitalized patients with previous endemic coronavirus infections died compared to 17.7% of those in the group without previous infection. Also, the odds of ICU care were significantly lower in those with previous endemic infections (OR 0.1).

Along the same line, mothers who have been infected with COVID-19 may be passing viral immunity to their babies through antibodies in breastmilk. A small study published in iScience of 15 women found that the mother’s breastmilk contained COVID-19-reactive secretory immunoglobulins and may be a potential therapeutic option for severe COVID-19, however the authors note that more research is needed.

Author: Kara Fitzgerald, ND

https://www.drkarafitzgerald.com/

Kara Fitzgerald, ND, received her doctor of naturopathic medicine degree from the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon. She completed the first Counsel on Naturopathic Medicine-accredited post-doctorate position in nutritional biochemistry and laboratory science at Metametrix Clinical Laboratory under the direction of Richard Lord, PhD. Her residency was completed at Progressive Medical Center, a large, integrative medical practice in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Fitzgerald is the lead author and editor of Case Studies in Integrative and Functional Medicine and is a contributing author to Laboratory Evaluations for Integrative and Functional Medicine and the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM)’s Textbook for Functional Medicine. With the Helfgott Research Institute, Dr. Fitzgerald is actively engaged in clinical research on the DNA methylome using a diet and lifestyle intervention developed in her practice. The first publication from the study focuses on reversal of biological aging and was published 04-12-2021 in the journal Aging. She has published a consumer book titled Younger You as well as a companion cookbook, Better Broths and Healing Tonics and has an application-based Younger You Program, based on the study. Dr. Fitzgerald is on the faculty at IFM, is an IFM Certified Practitioner and lectures globally on functional medicine. She runs a Functional Nutrition Residency program, and maintains a podcast series, New Frontiers in Functional Medicine and an active blog on her website, www.drkarafitzgerald.com. Her clinical practice is in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. Additional publications

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I’ve had the opportunity to review Dr. Kara Fitzgerald’s blogs. She is a well-recognized leader of functional, integrative medicine. Her blogs effervesce with her enthusiasm for her subject matter and convey her genuine warmth and compassion for her patients. She writes in an engaging style while conveying significant and meaningful information about the varied topics she has covered. They are simply fun to read and easy to learn from her wealth of experience.

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Dr. Fitzgerald is what you get when you merge a brilliant clinical brain with a powerful loving heart. Her ability to incorporate seemingly disparate details into a mosaic of meaning that can improve patient care is extraordinary. The opportunity to learn from her should never be missed without great reason.

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Two Mechanisms Potentially Improving Acquired Immunity to COVID-19: The Common Cold and Breastmilk

Author: Kara Fitzgerald, ND

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