How long does immunity to COVID-19 last after a person is infected?Research provides promising news

How long does immunity to COVID-19 last after a person is infected?

For the first time, I have heard that recovered COVID-19 patients are immune from reinfection for up to 7 months.

And if history repeats itself, that time can grow.

Patients infected with the first SARS virus in the early 2000s after the first infection showed immunity 17 years later. Studies have shown similar long-term protection in patients infected with MERS in 2012.

But does SARS-CoV-2 follow the same pattern? For most people, this will be months, perhaps years.

To find scientific evidence, researchers at the University of Arizona have developed tests to detect early and late antibodies in two separate parts of the virus, including those that appear during the body’s second-wave immune response. .. Plasma cells attach for long periods of time and appear to provide long-term immunity.

Previous studies have suggested that antibodies are reduced within 3 months and provide only short-term immunity, but long-term studies have shown that this is not the case.

Janko Nikolich-Zugich, MD, PhD is a professor and director of immunobiology at the University of Arizona School of Health.

“Not the first, but in about a month or two, we can make these cells with us for a very long time and produce many antibodies for a very long time.” He said. “When we make antibodies, especially when the virus is dangerous, the antibodies don’t actually go away.”

Since April, the team has tested nearly 6,000 people infected with COVID-19 in Pima County, Arizona.

“We measured immunity as much as possible. It was seven months later, and there was no real evidence that it would go down,” said Nikolic Zugitch.

And their research continues. They have currently tested over 30,000.

Near his home at Northwestern University, Dr. Thomas McDade and his team are doing a similar study. They distribute self-developed tests in the Chicago area, which is known to have a high incidence of COVID-19. The results showed that even more people have COVID antibodies than doctors and patients know.

“In our early analysis, preliminary results suggest that about 20 percent of the people in our study test positive for exposure to the virus, which is interesting. It’s higher than expected, “McDade said.

Of the 1,000 people so far enrolled in the Northwestern University scan study, only 2% reported that SATS-CoV-2 was actually positive. And antibody levels were much higher compared to other participants. Although the scan study is designed to investigate the prevalence of COVID-19 and the various problems surrounding infection, McDade said that among those who were asymptomatic but had antibodies, they were long-term. He said that immunity decisions are an important data point.

“They may have forward-moving or relatively forward-looking immunity, but it is also a virus sufficient for them to initiate a rigorous and long-term immune response. It may mean that it wasn’t exposed, “McDade said. “And with subsequent exposure, they may become more susceptible to infection again. I don’t know. Only time will tell.”

“The probability of reinfection is very small because it is less than 0.01%,” said Nikolich-Zugich.

There are five confirmed cases worldwide, including one in the United States.

“These people may have some degree of immunodeficiency that wasn’t previously diagnosed, or they may have just a sip of the virus,” said Nikolic Zugitch.

Today, there is better potential news about infections from the World Health Organization. SARS-CoV-2 has mutated and is becoming easier to spread, but the new version does not make people so sick.

For more information on SCAN research at Northwestern University, please visit: Scan.northwestern.edu