HOLDEN THORP: President's COVID-19 adviser spreads misinformation

In its latest attempt to confuse the public about the science of COVID-19, the Trump administration has added Dr. Scott Atlas to the team advising the president. Although Atlas may be capable of neurological imaging, he’s not an expert in infectious diseases or public health —and it shows. He’s spreading scientific misinformation in a clear attempt to placate the president and push his narrative that COVID-19 is not an emergency.

Janeway’s Immunobiology, now in its ninth edition, would be an excellent place for Atlas to “brush up” on the facts and help him grasp what science is telling us about SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 — that is, if he wants to understand the science.

Take Chapter One, where the biology of T and B cells is laid out. Like antibodies produced by B cells, T cells recognize antigens on the virus. But that recognition is used to generate T cells that then kill cells that are infected. In other words, T cells are a help after infection but don’t prevent it.

I point this out in particular because over the last few months, there have been a number of studies examining whether someone can have residual T cells that are “cross-reactive” against the coronavirus. “Cross-reactive” means the T cells might fight the coronavirus even if they’ve been developed as a response to previous, different infections. For example, these T cells could have been triggered during prior infections with coronaviruses that cause common colds.

Scientists have investigated whether such an individual with these residual T cells experiences less severe COVID-19.

Crotty and Sette suggest that these T cells, which appear in as many as 50% of COVID-19 patients, could decrease the severity of the infection. But as they caution in the Science paper, while the data shows this is plausible, it’s also “highly speculative.” Many questions around this are yet to be settled, and it is most likely that exposure to a large a amount of coronavirus infection would overwhelm these cross-reactive T cells.

Hilariously, Limbaugh’s blog post has the picture of Fauci holding up the Cell paper illustrating the opposite point that Atlas had made. Crotty put together a long Twitter thread lucidly explaining the danger of these false declarations.

This episode represents a sad turning point in the saga of how the Trump administration continues to mishandle the pandemic. For months, we have watched government scientists who advise the president squirm on TV when asked questions whose answers are sure to anger Trump. Many scientists have called for these advisers, particularly Deborah Birx, to drop the mic and walk out rather than continue to equivocate.

But Atlas is different. He is spreading scientific misinformation. He’s the anti-Fauci.