A study conducted by a professor from Duke University has unearthed a rather strange finding -- exposure to dengue may provide some immunity against Covid-19.

This was reported by Reuters on September 21.

The study was led by Miguel Nicolelis at Duke University, in the U.S.. It analysed the coronavirus outbreak in Brazil and compared its geographic distribution with the spread of dengue in 2019 and 2020.

The study found that places with lower coronavirus infection rates and slower case growth were places that reported large numbers of dengue cases in 2019 and 2020.

The study said:

"This striking finding raises the intriguing possibility of an immunological cross-reactivity between dengue’s Flavivirus serotypes and SARS-CoV-2."

SARS-CoV-2 is the coronavirus that causes the disease Covid-19, and flavivirus serotypes are dengue virus antibodies.

People with dengue antibodies may register a false positive Covid-19 test

If this link is proven right, then dengue infection or a vaccine based on the dengue virus can provide "some level of immunological protection" against the coronavirus, said the study.

The lead scientist in the study told Reuters that previous studies have shown that people with dengue antibodies in their blood can register a false positive when testing for Covid-19 antibodies — even if they have never had the coronavirus.

It can also be the other way round. Two patients in Singapore who were infected with the coronavirus actually registered false positive results from rapid serological testing for dengue. It was later found out that they had Covid-19 instead.

One of the patients was a woman believed to have caught both dengue and Covid-19 at the same time, but turned out to have a false positive for dengue.

The study has not been peer reviewed. It has been published and will be submitted to a scientific journal.

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Top image via Connected to India, US CDC on Unsplash.