Researchers say COVID-19 antibody testing in a Spanish population suggests that herd immunity is “unachievable”

Angels – Nationwide population-based research Release Despite the large national impact of COVID-19, antibody “prevalence estimates are low and clear to provide herd immunity,” says a Spanish researcher in the medical journal The Lancet Is insufficient.”

The study was conducted by a major domestic epidemiologist with the Spanish health authorities. In a large randomized population test for antibodies to the new coronavirus, researchers found that one-third of those infected had no symptoms.

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According to Harvard Medical School, herd immunity is when a previous infection or vaccine immunizes a sufficient number of people to make it more difficult to spread. If enough people become immune, the entire community will be protected.

However, the authors of a Spanish study say “collective immunity is hard to achieve unless it accepts the collateral damage of many deaths in vulnerable populations and strains the health system.” ..

“It’s an awakening call to public health. It’s not possible to control outbreaks (outbreaks) by only considering those who are symptomatic,” said Marina Polan, director of the National Epidemiology Center.

“Because of the large number of asymptomatic cases, it is necessary to follow personal hygiene and recommendations to keep social distances away,” Polan said.

Researchers in Madrid tested 61,075 participants between April 27 and May 11, and found that only 5% retained antibodies developed from the virus.

In addition, only 14% of those who tested positive for coronavirus in the first round of tests eventually ended up being negative in future tests done a few weeks later.

“These results underscore the need to maintain public health measures to avoid new wave trends,” the authors write. “Measuring social distances and efforts to identify and isolate new cases and their contacts are essential to control future epidemics.”

“In light of these findings, the proposed approach to achieving herd immunity through natural infection is not only unethical, but unachievable,” they added.

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In mid-June Spain ended its national blockade as movement restrictions and public activity managed to curb the outbreak of the virus in the country, pushing health care systems to the limit and killing thousands. .. It is one of the most pandemic victims in the world, with more than 28,000 virus-related deaths.

Fernando Simon, a health ministry virus expert, confirmed that local authorities were “correcting” the data, expecting the total number of dead and infected people across the country to be corrected.

The nasty low prevalence of antibodies found in the Spanish population comes from the renewed US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention That guidance In May, about the use and reliability of antibody testing, “less than half of the positive tests have true antibodies” in a population with a low prevalence of COVID-19, he said.

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Published on May 20 Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy, University of Minnesota (CIDRAP), while antibody tests can provide useful information and evidence of current or previous infections, “Antibody tests should usually be used as diagnostic tools to identify acute infections, except in unusual circumstances.” It’s also unclear if having an antibody against the virus could prevent someone from getting infected again in the future.”

Christopher Farnsworth, a pathology and immunology instructor at the University of Washington School of Medicine (https://medicine.wustl.edu/news/experts-urge-caution-in-interpreting-covid-19-antibody-tests/) test It can give some people a false sense of security.”

“A broad-spectrum antibody test can do more harm than good if people don’t understand the limitations of such tests,” he added.

CDC “remembers to group people who live or reside in schools, dormitories, correctional facilities, etc.” or “return people to work” as a result of complications and potential inaccuracies.

Associated Press contributed to this story.