Maria Van Kerkhove, head of the World Health Organization’s emerging diseases and zoonoses unit, speaks during a press conference after an emergency committee meeting on the new coronavirus in Geneva on January 22, 2020.
Pierre Albouy | AFP | fake pictures
Officials from the World Health Organization said Monday that patients recovering from Covid-19 could re-contract the coronavirus, adding that studies suggest their immunity may decline after a few months.
Emphasizing that scientists do not yet have a complete answer, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, chief of the WHO’s zoonoses and emerging diseases unit, said patients “have some level of immune response.”
“What we don’t know is how strong that protection is and how long that protection will last,” he said at a press conference at the organization’s headquarters in Geneva. “So there are a number of ongoing studies that are trying to answer these questions.”
Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO health emergencies program, also said there is not enough data to know whether this particular coronavirus can cause reinfection in people who have antibodies.
“We know with other coronaviruses that this is the case and there is some data that may suggest that immunity will decrease over time, but that is not fully known at this time,” he said.
This is a developing story. Check back here for updates.
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