New research launched on Wednesday should provide comfort to covid-19 survivors worried about losing their natural immunity to 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 that it could last even years.
There have been concerns about declining immunity since the beginning of the pandemic. Related coronaviruses that cause the common cit is known that elders often re-infect people and are scattered there have been reports of covid-19 reinfections in 2020. Some studies have also suggested that antibody levels against the virus may drop significantly three months.
On the other hand, immunity is a complicated mess. Antibodies are not the only source of immunity we receive against germs such as coronavirus. And, at least so far, confirmed reinfection accounts still seem rare. This new study, published In Science, it seems to provide 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 six months after the infection. Antibody levels against the virus have decreased as a result of the infection but remained stable after that up to eight months in most people. Also, virus-specific T cells decreased slightly after three months, but remained at constant levels thereafter. Meanwhile, memory B cells, which help the immune system wake up in response to a familiar threat and create more antibodies when needed, were actually more abundant at six.monthly mark than at one month. This is especially encouraging because these B cells are crucial for long-term immunity, the type that lasts for years.
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The findings do not directly show that our immunity to covid-19 will last absolutely 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. However, 95% of the people in the study had some level of immune memory in their antibodies, B cells., and T cells to virus five at eight a few months after their symptoms began. This indicates, the authors wrote, that “lasting immunity to secondary covid-19 disease is a possibility in most individuals.”
Antibodies tend to be the most important part of immunity in preventing germ reinfection. This and other research has shown that our levels of antibodies to coronavirus can vary substantially from person to person. This could explain why some people have become infected in such a short time, with some cases appearing only three months later. But, as the experts noted, the other remaining aspects of our immunity should usually protect people from more severe diseases if they are infected with the second time.
That being said, the current situation of the pandemic is still very bad, with daily cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the US at record-high levels. IYou won’t need more time to find out other important questions, as long as the immunity provided by the vaccine will last. But in a sea of bad news, at least there is some hope for us to understand.