- A team of researchers from Finland found that 91% of people tested for coronavirus antibodies were still neutralizing antibodies six months after living in COVID-19.
- The study suggests that the immune response after COVID-19 will be strong, and that protection against relapse may be permanent.
- The results are promising for vaccines, which have been shown to have a comparable immune response in clinical trials that are comparable or better than exposure to the pathogen.
The first coronavirus vaccines approved for emergency use arrived in a quicker time, less than a year after the new pathogen was discovered. Plenty of vaccination campaigns are already underway in the US and UK, with other European countries to follow soon. A large percentage of the population needs to be vaccinated for countries to improve herd immunity. Public health experts often explain that protection can only be achieved once 70% of the population has been vaccinated. Herd immunity should significantly reduce the spread of COVID-19 as the virus would have a much more difficult time locating a potentially infectious host.
There is one other factor that will affect the success of vaccination campaigns, as well as the number of people in a community who are surrounded. That is the period for which immunity lasts after immunization. The longer the immunity lasts, the better the herd’s immunity will work. Now, a new COVID-19 immunization study gives us another reason to be optimistic that vaccines will help the world beat the pandemic. The researchers found that most people infected with coronavirus develop a strong immune response that is likely to last a long time.
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The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) found that 91% of the 867 samples tested six months after the first infection had high levels of COVID-19-neutralizing antibodies. Participants were over 18 and contracted the virus at least six months before the start of the study. All 129 study participants who had to be hospitalized for COVID-19 treatment had neutralized antibodies six months later.
“The long-lasting antibodies in such a high proportion of people who have contracted the virus are a promising finding, and in particular the detection of neutral antibodies may indicate long-term protection against the disease, ”Said Merit Merlin at THL in a statement.
The researchers previously found that the majority of participants in a study had antibodies to neuralization four months after the illness. Research is ongoing.
Antibodies are formed after infection with the virus or after vaccination. These proteins circulate blood flow and bind to the virus’s spike proteins, preventing it from invading cells if a person is exposed to SARS-CoV-2 again. The longer the antibodies survive, the longer the protection lasts.
In addition to neutralizing antibodies, the immune system also trains white blood cells called B and T cells to recognize the virus when it is reabsorbed. Even if the neutralizing antibodies disappear, which may occur after a few months, those B and T cells are still present, ready to form new antibodies and kill the virus. A separate report recently reported that COVID-19 survivors showed a strong B and T cell response approximately eight months after exposure to the virus.
The THL study only focused on neutralizing antibodies, but the group’s findings are promising nonetheless. “Our finding that the persistence of antibodies persists in most people for six months after the infection also raises hopes about the long-term protection that vaccines provide,” said THL researcher Arto Palmu in a statement.
Some other studies of other coronavirus antibody reported that COVID-19 antibodies may go away after three months. If most people with the disease develop long – term antibodies, the same thing could happen to people who have been vaccinated. Vaccination studies have shown that volunteers in clinical trials improved antibody levels equal to or better than COVID-19 survivors. Others have reported that antibodies are present many months after their initial appearance. Antibodies may not prevent recurrence or infection after vaccination, but they may prevent the virus from invading the lungs. At the same time, this would prevent the worsening of COVID-19 symptoms and complications.
The report notes that it is not yet clear what level of antibodies is sufficient to protect against relapse or true COVID-19. More studies will be needed to measure the quality of immunity, both in COVID-19 survivors and in vaccinated individuals. THL could further develop its estimates as more time passes.
China is in a unique position where it could offer the world more data on COVID-19 immunity. The first survivors of the disease in Wuhan were infected more than a year ago at this stage, and blood tests would be sufficient to detect levels of antibodies, as well as T and B cells.
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Chris Smith began writing about gadgets as a hobby, and before he knew it he shared his thoughts on tech stuff with readers around the world. When he’s not writing about tools he desperately fails to get away from them, even though he’s trying hard. But that’s not a bad thing.