T-cells could be a missing link in the global fight against coronavirus.

So far scientists have been using antibody blood tests as a way of seeing whether a person has had Covid-19 in the past. They look at proteins to detect whether the body has already tried to fight off the bug.

But a new scientific study says some coronavirus patients who only suffered from the disease mildly have not had any antibody response at all, but do show ‘strong, specific T-cell immunity’.

So called ‘killer’ T-cells attack an illness directly if the body’s usual immune cells are unsuccessful in fending it off.

Professors of immunology at Imperial College London Rosemary Boyton say their findings suggest health services should roll out T-cell testing kits if it is a ‘more enduring and reliable marker of adaptive immunity in Covid-19’ than antibodies.

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In their study, published in the Science Immunology journal, the professors say a ‘basic observation in the majority of infected people…is one of robust T-cell activation’. They say widespread testing of the cells will be ‘valuable in deciphering’ the development of coronavirus as we ‘enter the next part of the battle’.

The scientists added: ‘At the start of the pandemic, a key mantra was that we needed the game-changer of antibody data to understand who had been infected and how many were protected.

‘As we have learnt more about this challenging infection, it’s time to admit that we really need the T cell data too.’

More than one million people in health and social care in the UK have had an antibody test, according to head of the NHS Test and Trace scheme Baroness Dido Harding. But she said more work needs to be done before antibody testing can be more widely rolled out.

She told yesterday’s Downing Street briefing: ‘At this stage the science isn’t clear enough yet to tell us whether the presence of antibodies and the level of antibodies in your blood gives you immunity.’

A vaccine currently under development by Oxford University is thought to have triggered a T-cell response as well as an antibody in some test subjects.

More than 4,000 participants are already enrolled in the UK in the testing of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine, with a further 10,000 people expected to sign up in the future.

This trial aims to assess how well people across a broad range of ages could be protected from Covid-19.

It will also provide valuable information on safety aspects of the vaccine and its ability to generate good immune responses against the virus.

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