In the news published by Sinc, Mohamed interviewed one of the authors of the research, Stepan Nersisyan. The study, meanwhile, has been published in the specialized journal Frontiers in Immunology.

The research group created a model to evaluate the ability of cells to generate an immune response. To test this model, we analyzed the genotypes of 100 people who had passed COVID-19 and 400 others who had not passed. In addition to analyzing the population of Moscow, they also studied the patients of the Ramón y Cajal Hospital in Madrid. According to Nersisyan: "We saw that in the forecasts there was a lot of precision: People who had been severely affected by COVID-19 received, according to our model, a significantly higher risk score than those who passed the disease mildly or quite badly."

It can also serve to measure the impact of COVID-19 mutations

As the researchers have explained, this study not only highlights the relationships between the severity of the disease and genotype, but can also help to evaluate how a COVID-19 mutation would lead cells to develop anti-virus immunity: "For example, we will be able to detect groups of patients to whom the infection of the new COVID-19 scorias can lead to the disease becoming more severe," said Alexander Tonevitsky, a researcher at the Sinc.

Nersisyan added that, in a context where vaccines can be scarce, "people with dangerous HLA genotype can be prioritized when getting the vaccine." And he adds: "Knowing which risk group each is in can motivate people to take a social distance, mask and safer practices."