COVID‑19 vaccines remain effective in mice with helminth infections

More than a quarter of the world’s population is infected with helminths, parasites that can reshape the immune system and raise concerns about the effectiveness of vaccines in affected individuals. A new preclinical study examined whether chronic helminth infection interferes with protection against SARS‑CoV‑2. Researchers used mice infected with the blood‑fluke *Schistosoma* and vaccinated them with both mRNA‑based and protein‑based COVID‑19 vaccines.

The vaccinated, helminth‑infected mice were fully protected against SARS‑CoV‑2 challenge, despite showing immune response profiles that differed from uninfected controls. The study demonstrated that the vaccines elicited robust antiviral immunity in the presence of a chronic helminth infection, indicating that such infections do not necessarily compromise vaccine‑induced protection.

These findings, published in *Frontiers in Immunology*, suggest that widespread helminth infections may not diminish the efficacy of COVID‑19 vaccines. The results provide reassurance for vaccine deployment in helminth‑endemic regions and underscore the importance of continued research into how parasitic infections interact with immune responses to novel pathogens.