British study indicates low risk of reinfection in the first six months



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The conclusion, announced on Friday, is expected to settle some 51 million people worldwide, particularly those infected in recent months. “This is very good news, because we can be sure that, at least in the short term, the majority of people who have had Covid-19 will not get it again,” said David Eyre, professor at the Department of Human Health of Nuffield at Oxford. , who co-produced the study.

Mike Ryan, World Health Organization Director for Pandemics, also welcomed the release of the study. “We are seeing sustained immune responses among human populations, so far,” he said. “It also gives us hope about the vaccine.”

Maria van Kerkhove, who technically leads the WHO in the fight against coronavirus, said that “we will still have to follow these people for a long period of time to see how long their immunity lasts.”

The study appears to counteract on a large scale some isolated cases of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection that have already been recorded and that admit the possibility that immunity to the coronavirus was short-lived and that recovered patients could fall ill again in a short time .

Cases of reinfection should remain a possibility, but rare, the study indicates.

During the investigation, 89 of the 11,052 people without antibodies studied developed a new infection without symptoms, something that did not happen with any of the 1,246 with antibodies analyzed. These employees were also less likely to test positive for Covid-19 without symptoms, with 76 without antibodies testing positive compared to just three among those who already had immunity. Even these three are fine and have had no symptoms, the researchers said.

The study continues.

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