Immune Response After COVID-19 Is Stable For Two Months - Scientists' Findings

Immune response after COVID-19 is stable for two months - scientists' findings

A team of researchers from several countries analyzed the antibody test results in 177 recovered patients, the results are encouraging.

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During the study, the preprint of which was published on the resource medrxiv.org, scientists measured the level of antibodies to coronavirus and the duration of the immune response. The results showed that the immune response remained stable for two months while the study lasted, and patients who have had severe COVID-19 are more likely to develop antibodies. Scientists hypothesize that a higher viral load causes a strong inflammatory response, which stimulates the production of more antibodies.

The researchers also found that from 2% to 8.5% of patients who have recovered from the disease do not have antibodies at all. The authors believe that this may be due to the fact that in some patients the immune response is formed through other mechanisms, for example, through antigens or T cells. It is also likely that the mild course of COVID-19 with a minimal viral load may be concentrated in the cells of the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract, where the secretory immune system predominates instead of antibodies.

In addition, the study looked at the body's immune responses to the virus based on race and ethnicity. Thus, representatives of the black and Asian races, as well as ethnic minorities, have a higher number of antibodies compared to white patients, which is possibly due to the fact that they are more difficult to tolerate coronavirus infection. People at risk, such as the elderly or those with chronic illnesses, have a stronger immune response to the virus.

Grigory Efimov, head of the transplant immunology laboratory of the National Medical Research Center of Hematology, which participated in the development of a test system for detecting antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, told MedPortal that the presence of antibodies is highly likely to indicate immunity to the virus. Whether the antibodies will protect against infection for a long time or whether the acquired immunity will allow the disease to be tolerated in a mild form will become known over time.

“Studies in monkeys have shown that reinfection does not occur after a short period of time, and clinical cases of reinfection are not described either. It is impossible to say how long the immunity will last, but there is information that people who had had SARS in 2003 acquired immunity, and immune memory cells were determined by testing for 11 years,”said Grigory Efimov.

According to the private medical network "Invitro", to date, antibodies have been detected in 15% of Russians who passed the test. In total, more than 250 thousand patients have been tested, according to a press release.