A new study suggests that the body’s immune response to the new coronavirus may persist for at least eight months after the onset of symptoms of the initial infection.
The duration of immunity to Covid-19 has been the subject of research during the pandemic, and studies have yielded different results so far. Last July, a study suggested that immunity could be lost within months. Such as The Indian Express then reportedresearchers at King’s College London draw this conclusion from a drop they observed over time in antibody levels in recovered Covid-19 patients – from a ‘potent level’ in 60% of study participants during peak of infection to only 16.7% that that level of potency 65 days later. While that study suggested that recovered Covid-19 patients are likely to remain prone to reinfection, the new study suggests that nearly all Covid-19 survivors have the immune cells needed to fight reinfection.
The study, published in the journal Science, is based on analyzes of blood samples from 188 patients. “Our data suggests that the immune response is there – and it remains,” said Alessandro Sette of La Jolla Institute (LJI), who led the study along with Shane Crotty and Daniela Weiskopf, in a statement from LJI.
“We measured antibodies, memory B cells, helper T cells and deadly T cells at the same time. To our knowledge, this is the largest study ever, for any acute infection, in which all four components of immune memory have been measured, ”LJI Crotty quoted.
The findings could mean that survivors of Covid-19 months, perhaps years after infection, have protective immunity against serious illnesses from the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the researchers said. Their study addresses concerns arising from Covid-19 data from other labs, which showed a dramatic drop in Covid-specific antibodies over time.
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As the researchers said, a decrease in antibodies is very normal. “That’s what immune responses do. They have an initial revival phase, and after that fantastic expansion, the immune response eventually contracts a little and reaches a steady state, ”said Sette.