It was with no small concern that I clicked on the email from the Tropical Medical Office that contained the results of my most recent blood test for Covid-19 antibodies.
When we began our grim battle with the third wave of the virus and a new lockdown, not to mention the new UK variant that is spreading like wildfire, knowing that I still had the antibodies circulating in my system gave me a small degree of comfort.
My heart sank a little when I read the stark results: “No Covid antibodies detected.”
As we hadn’t seen close family members for over six months, we were looking forward to a long-awaited Christmas catch-up, with restrictions.
But I was also hoping for a bit of reassurance, that our family of five was not coming with the most unwanted dinner guest this holiday season. Before I took the phone in a panic to tune out our visit and devastate three young children, I reached out to TMB Medical Director Graham Fry to discuss the results in full.
He had some startling revelations that offered a small glimmer of hope, especially considering that few people in the world have been infected twice.
While we know from recent research that antibodies from a Covid-19 infection remain in our system for only a few months, Dr. Fry believes this does not mean that it does not have some level of natural protection beyond that.
While research is constantly being done, people who have previously been infected with Covid-19 in this country could still be much less susceptible to reinfection and transmission of the virus to others. And if they do have it again, it is believed to be a much milder dose. But that doesn’t suggest that not all of us should adhere to public health guidelines.
The real key to having some degree of natural immunity while we wait for the national launch of the vaccine is in your T cells, as explained by Dr. Fry.
In what was a small relief, just because antibodies are no longer circulating in my system does not mean that I am as vulnerable to the virus as someone who has never had it.
“Not having detected antibodies does not mean that you have no protection because you have your antibodies and your T cells,” he said.
“T cells are your memory cells. They’re the ones who remember to create the antibodies in the first place, but we can’t do commercial T-cell testing in this country.
“So from a T-cell point of view, if they are still there and active, if you are exposed to Covid again, you would naturally create the antibodies again, and that happens with many other conditions.
“The antibodies will protect you; they are just masses of protein in the body. But the memory of how to create them is kept inside T cells. That is what we think is happening and if you look globally, how many people have contracted Covid twice? Very, very few “.
Members of the public have been flocking to the clinic in recent weeks to get their PCR smear test for Covid-19, as well as antibodies, before Christmas.
“These are people who are going abroad and need a certificate to show that they do not have Covid now and are leaving in the next 24, 48, 72 hours,” he said.
“We also had someone who was going to visit her grandmother who was over 100 years old and we wanted to get tested just to show that they were doing everything they could to make sure she wouldn’t get it, which I thought was lovely,” she added.