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– A preliminary study on COVID offers two important takeaways: First, most of those who get the infection appear to be immune for at least five months afterward. And second, even those with antibodies may be able to spread the infection to others. The results come from a survey of 21,000 health workers in the UK, CNN reports. One caveat: the study has not yet been peer-reviewed. With regard to immunity, the study found that people who tested positive for COVID had an 83% lower risk of getting it again within five months. That’s on the margins of the effectiveness of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines (94% -95%) now being distributed, notes Forbes. However, researchers cannot say for sure how long after five months the immunity protection lasts. The troubling part of the results involved the ability of people with antibodies to further spread the virus.
“We found people with very large amounts of virus in their nose and throat swabs, which would be easily in the range that would cause levels of transmission to other individuals,” said Susan Hopkins of Public Health England and co-leader of the study. As a result, researchers say everyone, including those with antibodies, should continue to take the usual precautions with masks and social distance, Reuters said. “These data reinforce the message that everyone is a potential source of infection to others for the time being and should act accordingly,” said Eleanor Riley of Edinburgh University, who was not involved in the study. of the 21,000 people in the study, 6,614 tested positive for antibodies. Of the latter group, 44 possible re-infections were discovered. (Double masks might be even better.)