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The results suggest that people who have recovered from the disease may be susceptible to a second infection.
The neutralizing activity of antibodies against COVID-19 in patients who recovered from this disease is not strong and decreases dramatically approximately one month after being discharged from hospital, according to a study published this Thursday in the journal PLOS Pathogens.
In the new research, conducted by a team of Chinese scientists, the response of some specific antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 derived proteins in 19 non-serious and 7 severe patients. Most of these people developed antibodies, but in 80.7% of them the level of the neutralizing activity it differed, being strong only in seriously ill patients.
The risk of a second infection
In addition, it was observed that the seriously convalescent had a large amount of antibodies that did not neutralize the proteins of the virus. It was also shown that the neutralizing activity of the antibodies of recovered patients decreased significantly during the period between 21 and 28 days after hospital discharge, suggesting that such people could be susceptible to a second infection.
According to the study authors, these results highlight the importance of carefully selecting the blood samples of patients recovered by antibody neutralization assays prior to transfusion to other patients.
Meanwhile, other recently published research concluded that antibodies last at least four months after diagnosis. One of the great mysteries of the current pandemic is whether having suffered from Covid-19 helps protect the person from future infections and for how long.
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