from Hacker News

Are Indians more immune to Covid-19?

by navinsylvester on 11/3/20, 6:43 AM with 16 comments

• by dartharva on 11/3/20, 10:16 AM

  The paper in question: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7444648/pdf/mai...

  It is indeed very interesting and worthy of consideration that Indians and other people from poor countries with lesser hygiene may be more immune to COVID infections.

  India's government lifted its infamous lockdowns at times when the number of active cases only seemed to be flying upwards and had no anticipations of coming down anytime soon. In a poor, extremely overpopulated country with high rates of overcrowding and very low hygiene standards, coupled with rampant unemployment and economic distress, anyone could have only expected the situation to worsen. And it did - the country's GDP shrunk by almost a quarter and cases continued to pile up... until they didn't. The number of active cases miraculously peaked mid-November and have been in a healthy downward trend since. While developed countries like the UK seem to have their number of active cases shoot up exponentially, many states in India are experiencing a net decrease in cases to very safe levels. Even infamously overcrowded states like Uttar Pradesh are displaying impressive levels of recovery.

  One has to reckon there must be something more to it than just government interventions and change in attitudes.

• by tyingq on 11/3/20, 11:22 AM

  The headline doesn't match the content. The content proposes not that they are immune, but that the rate of death, after getting COVID-19, is lower than the rest of the world. The rate of cases for India is similar to everyone else.

• by absolutelyrad on 11/3/20, 11:25 AM

  Have they accounted for the age? The indian population is younger than the west on average.

• by commonturtle on 11/3/20, 8:57 PM

  Yeah, I'm just not sure what's happening in Asia, South America, and Africa. There were stories about lots of cases in a few countries but the number of deaths was quite low. Europe and North America seem to be the brutally hit but other places seem to have got through the pandemic without much trouble.

  Is it the vitamin D? We should really try to figure out why these regions have done so well and try to replicate that in Europe and NA.

• by Havoc on 11/3/20, 5:29 PM

  Given how central Vit D seems to be sun exposure seems like a relevant factor too. Much of Africa for example seems to be coping pretty well

• by aitchnyu on 11/3/20, 5:35 PM

  Will training the immune system against allergens help fight real pathogens better? Can childhood exposure to pets, camping, gardening or even supplement pill full of allergens boost total immune system function?