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Eight months: this is the duration of theimmunity for those who have contracted Covid-19. It has been established, for the first time, what is the “memory” of our body after coming into contact with the virus.
Good news for vaccines
Credit for this discovery is attributed to some Australian researchers from Melbourne-based Monash University. The research has just been published in the journal Immunology Sciences and it is also essential for another very important reason: I vaccinations against the Sars-Cov-2 virus will be able to work for long periods. Initially, there were fears that the first wave of antibodies would disappear very soon, raising concerns that people could quickly lose acquired immunity, but this new work bodes well.
What the study says
The study is the result of a multi-center collaboration led by Professor Menno van Zelm from the Department of Immunology and Pathology at Monash University. The publication, titled “Rapid generation of B-cell long-lasting memory for nucleocapsid proteins and SARS-CoV-2 spike in COVID-19 and convalescence“reveals that specific cells within the immune system, called memory B cells,” remember “the virus infection and, if attacked again by re-exposure, trigger a protective immune response by producing antibodies shield that protects our body.
Sars-Cov-2 specific antibody and B-cell response were studied in 25 patients with the virus with samples obtained between 4 and 242 days (therefore, eight months) after the onset of symptoms. Well, scientists found that antibodies against the virus decreased after 20 days of infection, but the bottom line is that all patients continued to have memory B cells that recognized one of the two components of the Sars-CoV-2 virus. , called Spike protein and nucleocapsid. These novel coronavirus-specific memory B cells were stably present until eight months after infection.
“Since we have shown that the numbers of SARS-CoV-2 specific Bmem cells are stable over time, we propose that these Bmems may represent a stronger marker of humoral immune responses than lyoung durata compared to serum antibodies. Therefore, cellular measurements of the immune response could be more reliable markers for the maintenance of immunity after a natural infection or vaccination “, The researchers write in technical terms, which means that vaccines will be able to maintain immunity in the long term.
“Immunity lasts a long time”
According to Professor van Zelm, these results fuel the hope ofeffectiveness vaccines against the virus and also explain the few cases of real reinfection among the millions and millions of infected worldwide. “These findings are important because they show conclusively that patients infected with the Covid-19 virus actually retain immunity against the virus and disease.“, said the academic in a note reported by Dnakronos. “This has been a black cloud hovering over the potential protection provided by any vaccine, and it gives us real hope that once one or more vaccines are developed, they will provide long-term protection.“concluded van Zelm.
