A study conducted by the Institute of Immunology La Jolla , in the United States, found that the immunity to coronavirus it can last for at least eight months after infection. According to the information, the loss of immunity of recovered patients is slow, this makes the cells that fight the COVID-19 continue to ward off the virus for years or even decades. 3c531f
The research, published in The New York Times, still needs to be reviewed by the scientific community, but it brings hope to researchers. After all, if the immune response of patients is long, it will not be necessary to take several doses of the vaccine to guarantee immunity to the coronavirus.
We studied 185 cases of COVID-19, including men and women aged between 19 and 81 years. Most patients had mild symptoms of the disease and were not hospitalized. The researchers also followed 41 volunteers for more than six months after infection and found that antibody levels were relatively stable, showing a slight drop between six and eight months after contracting the virus.
In addition, few volunteers had a significant drop in antibodies, to the point of no longer showing immunity to the coronavirus. For the researchers, this drop in antibody levels can be explained by the amount of virus that each patient was exposed to. In an interview with New York Times, the institute's virologist La Jolla, Shane Crotty, highlighted the importance of the discovery. For him, the amount of immunological memory to the coronavirus, presented by the volunteers, could prevent people from contracting serious diseases for years.
“That amount of cellular memory would likely prevent the vast majority of people from getting hospitalized illnesses, serious illnesses, for many years to come.”
Shane Crotty, virologist of immunology institute La Jolla
Immunity for coronavirus is highlighted in other research 5z5ig
The results obtained by the institute La Jolla brings important information that can help other studies in the scientific community. Recently, the magazine Nature published an article showing that patients recovered from COVID-19 had “potent and protective” immune cells capable of protecting the body against the virus, even when patients had no detectable antibodies in laboratory tests.
The research also highlighted the importance of mapping the differences and similarities between the COVID-2 and other coronaviruses to develop strategies to fight infections caused by the virus. In addition Columbia University managed to identify new antibodies capable of increasing immunity to the coronavirus. Studies on immunity and antibodies are essential for the development and effectiveness of vaccines.
“These studies generally paint the same picture: once you get past the critical first few weeks, the rest of the response looks pretty conventional.”
Deepta Bhattacharya, immunologist at University of Arizona
Want to know more about coronavirus? Then check out our article on Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine that is 90% effective in phase 3 trials.
Source: The New York Times, Nature, BioRxiv
