A new investigation published on Wednesday should provide comfort to covid-19 survivors worried about losing their natural immunity to the coronavirus soon. The findings suggest that in most people, a robust immune response to the virus lasts at least eight months, and there are good signs it could even last for years.
There have been concerns about declining immunity since almost the beginning of the pandemic. Related coronaviruses that cause the common cit is known that old people often reinforce people and are scattered reports of covid-19 reinfections arose by 2020. Some studies had also suggested that levels of antibodies against the virus may drop significantly three months.
On the other hand, immunity is one complicated mess. Antibodies are not the only source of immunity we get against germs like coronavirus. I, at least so far, confirmed reports of reinfection still seem scarce. This new study, published in Science, it seems to offer the most up-to-date look at how our immune responses to the virus change over time, and the verdict is largely positive.
The scientists studied the blood of 180 volunteers who had confirmed covid-19, including samples taken for six months after infection. Antibody levels against the virus were reduced after infection but remained stable after that up to eight months in most people. Virus-specific T cells also decreased slightly after three months, but again remained at constant levels thereafter. Meanwhile, memory B cells, which help the immune system wake up in response to a family threat and create more antibodies when needed, were actually more abundant at six.more than in a month. This is especially encouraging, because these B cells are crucial for long-term immunity, of the kind that lasts for years.
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The findings do not directly show that our immunity to covid-19 will last eight months and more. Scientists are still trying to figure out how these immune responses in the body translate into protection in the real world. But all in all, 95% of the people in the study had some level of immune memory in their antibodies, the B cells., and T cells in the virus a five a eight months after starting their symptoms. This indicates, the authors wrote, that “lasting immunity against secondary covid-19 disease is a possibility in most people.”
Antibodies are usually the most important part of immunity to prevent germ reinfection. This and other research has shown that our levels of antibodies against coronavirus can vary substantially from person to person. This could explain why some people have been reinfected in such a short time, with some cases appearing only three months later. But as experts have pointed out, the other remaining aspects of our immunity should normally protect people from more serious illnesses if they are infected with second time.
However, the current pandemic situation is still very bad, with daily cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the US a registerhigh levels. JoIt won’t be long before we find out other important issues, as long as the immunity provided by the vaccine will last. But in a sea of bad news, there is at least some hope to dig deeper into it.