Several new studies show that people who even had a mild coronavirus infection developed a lasting immunity to the virus.
The studies, none of which have been peer-reviewed yet, show that antibodies and immune cells, known as B cells and T cells, which can recognize the SARS-CoV-2 virus, appear to be present months after ‘. t infection is cured.
One group of scientists “conducted a longitudinal assessment of individuals recovering from mildly symptomatic COVID-19 to determine if they were developing and maintaining immunological memory against the virus,” says their study. We found that recovering individuals developed SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG antibody and neutralized plasma, as well as virus-specific B and T cells for memory that not only existed but in some cases increased numerically in three months following symptom onset. “
Furthermore, the SARS-CoV-2-specific memory lymphocytes exhibited traits associated with potent antiviral immunity: memory T cells secreted IFN-γ and expanded upon antigen reuptake, while memory B cells expressed receptors capable of virus “neutralize when expressed as antibodies. These findings indicate that mild COVID-19 evokes persistent memory lymphocytes and exhibit functional characteristics associated with antiviral protection immunity,” the scientists wrote.
“This is exactly what you would be hoping for,” Marion Pepper, an immunologist at the University of Washington who co-authored the study, told The New York Times. “All pieces are there to have a fully protective immune response.”
Pepper said the next move will be more testing to find evidence that people are able to remove the coronavirus after being exposed a second time, the paper reported.
“This is very promising,” Smita Iyer, an immunologist at the University of California, told the paper. “This requires some optimism about herd immunity, and potentially a vaccine.”
Said the Times:
Research into the coronavirus is going so fast, and in such a volume, that the traditional review process is often not keeping up. For the studies studied – as with un-peer-reviewed studies in general – The Times arranged for various experts to read and evaluate them.
Although researchers cannot predict how long this immune response will last, many experts consider the data to be a welcome indication that the body has a good chance of infecting the coronavirus when it is re-exposed. “Things are really working out the way they should,” said Deepta Bhattacharya, an immunologist at the University of Arizona and an author on one of the new studies, which has not yet been peer reviewed.
The world’s largest COVID-19 vaccine study began earlier this month, with the first of 30,000 Americans volunteering to take the shots. The experimental vaccine, developed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Moderna Inc., is in phase three of the development process, which includes tests at clinical sites across the country.
“Having a safe and effective vaccine distributed by the end of 2020 is a stretch goal, but it is the good goal for the American people,” NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins said in a statement. “The launch of this Phase 3 trial in record time, while maintaining the strictest security measures, demonstrates American ingenuity at its best and what can be done if stakeholders come together with unassailable objectivity toward a common goal.”
Similar: Russia becomes first nation to approve COVID-19 vaccine
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