A new study suggests that the body’s immune response to the new coronavirus may last at least eight months after the onset of symptoms of the initial infection.
The duration of immunity to Covid-19 has been investigated by the pandemic, and studies have so far yielded different results. In July last year, a study suggested that immunity could be lost within months. As The Indian Express reported at the time, researchers from King’s College in London concluded this from a decrease they observed in the antibody levels in recovered Covid-19 patients over time – from a ‘strong’ level in 60% of the study participants during the peak of infection to only 16.7% level of force 65 days later. While that study suggested that recovered Covid-19 patients are likely to remain susceptible to reinfection, the new study suggests that almost all Covid-19 survivors have the immune cells needed to fight reinfection.
The study, published in the journal Science, is based on analyzes of blood samples from 188 patients. “Our data suggests that the immune response is there – and it remains so,” Alessandro Sette of La Jolla Institute (LJI), who co-led the study with Shane Crotty and Daniela Weiskopf, said in a statement issued by LJI.
“We measured antibodies, memory B cells, helper T cells and killer T cells simultaneously. “As far as we know, this is the largest study ever for any acute infection that measured all four components of immune memory,” said Lotti Crotty.
The findings could mean that survivors of Covid-19 months, perhaps years, after infection are protected from serious diseases of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the researchers said. Their study addressed concerns arising from Covid-19 data from other laboratories, which showed a dramatic decrease in Covid-specific antibodies over time.
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As the researchers said, a decrease in antibodies is very normal. ‘This is what immune responses do. “They have a first phase to rush, and after that fantastic expansion, the immune response finally slows down somewhat and becomes steady,” Sette is quoted as saying.