Jie Sun, PhD, professor of medicine in the Department of Medicine, Infectious Diseases Division and the Carter Immunology Center, discusses his work on mucosal immunity after COVID-19 natural infection or vaccination in The Scientist magazine webinar entitled “COVID-19″ Lessons Learned”; and his group research on respiratory immunopathology including Long COVID in The Immunology Podcast.

Link to SOM Website Article
Link to The Scientist Webinar
The Immunology Podcast

Long COVID-19 and other chronic respiratory conditions after viral infections may stem from an overactive immune response in the lungs

Viruses that cause respiratory diseases like the flu and COVID-19 can lead to mild to severe symptoms within the first few weeks of infection. These symptoms typically resolve within a few more weeks, sometimes with the help of treatment if severe. However, some people go on to experience persistent symptoms that last several months to years. Why and how respiratory diseases can develop into chronic conditions like long COVID-19 are still unclear.

I am a doctoral student working in the Sun Lab at the University of Virginia. We study how the immune system sometimes goes awry after fighting off viral infections. We also develop ways to target the immune system to prevent further complications without weakening its ability to protect against future infections. Our recently published review of the research in this area found that it is becoming clearer that it might not be an active viral infection causing long COVID-19 and similar conditions, but an overactive immune system.

The lungs in health and disease

Keeping your immune system dormant when there isn’t an active infection is essential for your lungs to be able to function optimally.

Your respiratory tract is in constant contact with your external environment, sampling around 5 to 8 liters (1.3 to 2 gallons) of air – and the toxins and microorganisms in it – every minute. Despite continuous exposure to potential pathogens and harmful substances, your body has evolved to keep the immune system dormant in the lungs. In fact, allergies and conditions such as asthma are byproducts of an overactive immune system. These excessive immune responses can cause your airways to constrict and make it difficult to breathe. Some severe cases may require treatment to suppress the immune system.

Click here to read the full article at https://theconversation.com/.

Click here to view Harish’s Paper at Science Immunology.

Those widely available COVID-19 vaccinations keeping the majority of the population free from serious illness will not be enough to stop the spread of the virus and its variants, new University of Virginia collaborative research indicates.

Just as science has begun to suspect, the shots will need a boost from a nasal spray.

“Our data suggest that an intranasal vaccine-boosting strategy will be critical to protect people against emerging variants of concern,” said Jie Sun, the Harrison Distinguished Teaching Professor of Medicine at UVA. Sun serves in the Division of Infectious Diseases and International Medicine and associate directs the University’s Carter Immunology Center.

Published Tuesday in the journal Science Immunology, Sun and colleagues’ research fully documents for the first time the underperforming immune response in the airways of people with COVID-19 vaccinations compared to those with natural infection.

Click here to read the full article at https://news.virginia.edu.