A new report on Wednesday showed that 90% of people recovering from a Covid-19 infection have a stable antibody response.
“While some reports have come out that the antibodies to this virus go away quickly, we have found the exact opposite – that more than 90% of people who were mild or moderately ill produce an antibody response that is strong enough to inactivate the virus. Is, and “the response is maintained for several months,” Florian Kramer, a professor of vaccine science at Mount Sinai’s Ikhan School of Medicine, who led the study team, said in a statement.
The team looked at the antibody responses of more than 30,000 people who tested positive for Covid-19 on Mount Sinai’s health system between March and October. They reported their antibody response as low, moderate, or low. More than 90 percent of the antibodies to the virus’s spike protein had moderate to high levels or titers – a structure designed to infect those cells.
They then closely studied 121 patients who recovered and donated their plasma – once and five months after they first developed symptoms.
“We initially measured in individuals the serum antibody titer plasmablasts, produced by cells that act as the first responders to the invading virus and come together to produce the early stages of antibodies,” said Dr. Ania Weinberg, director of the clinical Strength decreases quickly, ”said Dr. Anne, director of the clinical. Antibody testing at Mount Sinai Hospital.
“The persistent antibody levels that we observed later are produced by long-term plasma cells in the bone marrow. This is similar to what appears in other viruses and potentially means they are here to stay. We will continue to follow this group. .We have doubts and hope it is time to see if these levels remain stable. “
Antibodies are not the only defense to boost immunity against infection, but they are an important first line of defense.
“While this does not provide conclusive evidence that these antibody responses protect against re-infection, we believe it is likely that they will reduce the likelihood of re-infection.”
Covid-19 has only been around for a year, so scientists are still learning about it. The stories of people who have been infected more than once are mostly narrative, and between a few and many more.
There is a clear concern about this. It would be better for people to get rid of the epidemic if they develop permanent immunity to the virus after infection. And, of course, the vaccine needs the immune system to work well.
It happens with other viruses. Measles is an example. A bout of measles usually leaves someone immune for life – an effect known as sterilized immunity. The same was true for smallpox, before the virus was eradicated in the 1970s by a global vaccination campaign. And proper vaccination against measles and smallpox completely protects against infection.
But respiratory viruses like influenza are difficult. People can catch the flu frequently and the flu vaccine usually provides only partial protection against infection and serious illness. Part of this is due to the tendency for the flu to change.
Coronavirus comes in between. They can cause common colds, but because they are not usually fatal, they are not even studied. Until the deadly cousin of Covid-19 came along with SARS, there was little interest in the coronavirus.
However, there is evidence that people can and do develop little immunity to coronavirus.
“We know from work with normal human coronaviruses that antibodies are induced to neutralize, and these antibodies can last for years and protect against recurrence or disease, even if individuals are re-infected,” Wagenberg and colleagues wrote.
“It is not yet clear how long infection in humans with SARS-COV-2 regenerates and protects.”
The next important step, he said, is to establish what is known as the correlation of defense. These are compounds that can be measured in the blood to tell doctors if someone is immune – so wait and see if they re-infect after an infection, or after being vaccinated.
.
