{
  "id": 11259287,
  "title": "COVID-19 immunity may help protect against other bat coronaviruses",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/01/covid-19-immunity-may-help-protect-against-other-bat-coronaviruses",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-10-01T19:00:11.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Medical Xpress",
    "slug": "medical-xpress",
    "url": "https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-covid-immunity-coronaviruses.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "A recent study by The Pirbright Institute and King's College London has revealed that people who have recovered from COVID-19 infection or have been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 may possess immunity to other closely related bat coronaviruses. The research, published in PLOS Biology, suggests that bat coronaviruses most likely to infect a wide range of animal species are those most closely related to SARS-CoV-2 and most likely to be recognized by immunity generated through COVID-19 infection. The study found that \"generalist\" sarbecoviruses, which can use ACE2 receptors from many different species, were largely confined to the same evolutionary group as SARS-CoV-2. This discovery could provide insight into the potential for future spillover events from bats to humans, as well as the protective effects of COVID-19 immunity against related bat coronaviruses.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}