T CELL IMMUNITY IS NOT MEASURED IN THE RECENT STUDY

Subject: Science & tech

Context: T cell immunity was not measured in the recent study of healthcare workers (HCW) in India.

Concept:

T cells (also called T lymphocytes) are one of the major components of the adaptive immune system.
Their roles include directly killing infected host cells, activating other immune cells, producing cytokines and regulating the immune response.
There are two major types of T cells: the helper T cell and the cytotoxic T cell.
As the names suggest, helper T cells ‘help’ other cells of the immune system, whilst cytotoxic T cells kill virally infected cells and tumours.