As reported on October 24, 2020, a new research study, led by Marc Veldhoen from Instituto de Medicina Molecular (IMM) in Portugal and published in the European Journal of Immunology, states that antibodies against novel coronavirus remain detectable up to seven months post contracting the disease. The study was based on 300 coronavirus-infected patients, 198 post-Covid volunteers, and 2500 university staff. The antibodies against the novel coronavirus follow a classic pattern with a rapid increase within the first three weeks after symptoms. The research participants had antibodies with confirmed neutralisation activity for up to six months post-infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Findings of the Research Study
Some key findings of the study are as follows.
- The study revealed that 90 per cent of subjects have detectable antibodies up to seven months post contracting Covid-19.
- The study found that age was not a confounding factor in levels of antibodies produced, but disease severity is.
- The researchers came to know that our immune system recognises the virus SARS-CoV-2 as harmful and produces antibodies in response to it, which helps to fight the virus.
- The findings show a classic pattern with a rapid increase of antibody levels within the first three weeks after Covid-19 symptoms and, as expected, a reduction to intermediate levels thereafter.
- It was also found that men produce more coronavirus antibodies than women. However, levels equilibrate during the resolution phase and are similar between the sexes in the months after SARS-CoV-2 infection.
- The researchers observed higher antibody levels in subjects with more severe disease.
Reduction in Levels of Antibodies
The team of the scientists found that while there was a reduction in the levels of antibodies over time, there was ‘robust neutralisation activity’ for up to the seventh month post-infection in a large proportion of previously virus-positive screened subjects. The researchers say that their work provides detailed information for the assays used, facilitating further and longitudinal analysis of protective immunity to SARS-CoV-2. The work stresses a continued level of circulating neutralising antibodies in most people with confirmed SARS-CoV-2.
The researchers believe the next months will be critical to evaluate the robustness of the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and to find clues for the duration of circulating antibodies and the impact of reinfection.
Courtesy: India Today