A new study that analysed the coronavirus outbreak in Brazil has found a link between the spread of the virus and past outbreaks of dengue fever that suggests exposure to the mosquito-transmitted illness may provide some level of immunity against Covid-19.

The not yet published study led by Miguel Nicolelis, a professor at Duke University compared the geographic distribution of coronavirus cases with the spread of dengue in 2019 and 2020.

Places with lower Covid-19 infection rates and slower case growth were locations that had suffered intense dengue outbreaks this year or last, Nicolelis found.

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