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This illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. A novel coronavirus, named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China in 2019. The illness caused by this virus has been named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). (CDC/Alissa Eckert, MS)

Understanding why some people develop severe symptoms following a SARS-CoV-2 infection while others remain asymptomatic is one of the most pressing questions in COVID-19 research today. The answer is undoubtedly complicated and multifaceted and will take years of research.

One potentially crucial factor has now been identified by a team of researchers: prior exposure to coronaviruses.