Your coronavirus antibody may not last long. Here’s what that means. – Mother Jones

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Since the beginning of the pandemic, one of the biggest and most important gaps in our understanding of coronaviruses has been about antibodies. Based on what we know about other coronaviruses, Scientist guessed Those who have recovered from COVID-19 are more likely to develop antibodies to fight the virus and may have some immunity, at least in the short term. The power of these antibodies is important in the protection of survivors, the resumption of economics, and even the treatment of virally infected patients. However, how long the antibody lasts was a mystery.

Then last month, Investigation Published in Natural medicine Deliver what seems to be bad news: Antibodies to coronavirus can begin to decline within just a few months. It has also been suggested that asymptomatic individuals are likely to have undetectable levels of antibody during recovery. Ah Subsequent research We support the findings, led by researchers at King’s College London, published before the peer review earlier this month.

While Natural medicine The study is fairly small and focuses on a group of 37 with and without symptoms. The results show that some measures have been demonstrated early, such as the installation of “immune passports”. 19 Patients — May be viable or unsafe. The results also “support long-term public health interventions,” the authors write, including social distance, hand washing, and extensive testing.

Still, as a card-carrying optimist, I argue that there’s really no reason to suffer from your antibodies — at least not yet. The result is not Great News is just part of the COVID puzzle. There are many things we still don’t know about immunity to this coronavirus. Second COVID-19 (new coronavirus infectious disease) (# If there is no character limit, add brackets when first appearing infection It can be short-term or long-term. But to better understand the implications of declining antibodies, both as individuals and as a country, I went to Stanley Perlman, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Iowa, Carver School of Medicine, and Pediatrics, through my science. As he explains, it’s not really surprising that antibodies may not last more than a few months, and those who have recovered from a mild case of COVID-19 still have a low level of antibodies, even those with low levels. Diseases that may be protected from severe illness. Moreover, he points out that the immune system is not the only one employed to fight the virus. Here is a brief breakdown of the conversation.

I’m not really sure what the “normal” of this particular coronavirus is, but Perlman says: That is why people often catch colds. “

For example, in MERS caused by another coronavirus, Research conducted Pearlman et al. show that some individuals with very mild cases did not develop an antibody response. Others’ antibodies declined after a few months. And some people with severe illness have seen the antibody colonize for over a year.

One of the leading studies conducted in 1990 was a researcher Intentionally exposed Volunteers that cause the cold coronavirus. Some had a cold and some did not. A year later, when volunteers were exposed to the same virus, most did not develop cold symptoms again, probably due to elevated antibody levels due to the first exposure. “But,” says Perlman. “If you wait two or three years, they will be affected again.”

“There are varying amounts of weakness, which is probably what the respiratory virus does all the time,” he says. “So what the virus does is no different from what I expected, based on what I know about MERS and what I know about the common cold coronavirus. I can see it.”

“When infected with a virus, the first thing the virus does is enter the cells and multiply the virus.”

Unlike bacteria, viruses don’t float in our bodies for a long time. They hide and replicate in our cells. However, antibodies do not normally enter cells. “That’s why they work against bacteria,” says Perlman. “Without the free virus, the antibodies are less effective.”

Fortunately, we have other virus fighters in our body Do Attack infected cells: T cells. “What T cells can do is to recognize and destroy infected cells,” says Perlman. Other T cells help make better antibodies. “Typically, [antibodies and T cells] Together for effective immunity. And for the new coronavirus, Early research This indicates that COVID-19 patients, and even patients who have never been infected with SARS-CoV-2, have T cells that recognize the virus.

Moreover, Perlman says that even if antibody levels drop after a few months, there may still be cells that make the antibodies called B cells. “So [antibody] The exchange takes place at low levels and you can’t detect it, but the B cells are still there and may be protected. “

Again, experts are still uncertain about the potential for reinfection, but based on what we know about the immune system, the second infection may be less serious, Perlman said. Says. For example, recovered patients are less likely to develop pneumonia as a result of COVID-19. COVID-19 is common in the most severe cases of this disease. “If you have an infection and your antibodies have diminished,” says Perlman. [T cell responses], Like these residual memory B cells, I never get pneumonia again. “

However, at this early stage of our understanding of viruses, it is difficult to know many of the crucial things. And, in fact, there are some reports that seem to counter the idea that the second infection is less serious. For example, last week Vox Release A doctor in Washington, DC, describes a patient who appears to have been infected twice with the coronavirus. His first infection included “mild cough and sore throat”, while the second infection was more severe (“high fever, shortness of breath, hypoxia, resulting in I also visited the hospital once.”) Based on this evidence, doctors argue that reinfection is possible, “Covid-19 can also be much worse for the second time,” he said.

When I submitted this case to Perlman by email, he didn’t know what to do with it. He said that patients’ immunity may be more susceptible to viruses in the short term, but he “expects some protection from even mild illness,” he added. [example] It will be against my expectations. “It is also possible that the patient did not mount an immune response to the initial infection, he says. (I’m not sure, especially because the patient hadn’t had an antibody test.) “It’s a mystery, but it is sometimes explained,” Perlman said, suggesting the report may be outliers. Did.

A 1990 study of volunteers released particles of the virus in people re-exposed to a cold-catching coronavirus, that is, in the absence of symptoms. Studies have shown that the immune system can release viral particles, even if someone can dodge a serious infection. “However, [the studies] Do not say How much Will you shed the virus? “Pearlman says. “And that’s important, obviously, if you have COVID-19 or are vaccinated, that person may find it comfortable to go public. And he or she If you then re-infect and do not encounter any serious cases, that’s great for an individual, but I want to make sure they don’t release or produce as much virus as someone who has never been vaccinated. is.”

The amount that someone sheds the virus can affect the infectivity of the virus. Let’s say Donald Trump is infected with a coronavirus and Anthony Fauci is not. If they both pick up the virus-the president’s immune system has seen the virus before, so in this hypothetical scenario Trump’s case, and in the first case, Fo’chi’s-Fochi’s than Trump’s It may shed much more virus, so it was ready to fight it. Perlman believes that those who shed more viruses are “much, much, much more infectious” than others.

This uncertainty means that you need to be aware of your “immunity passport.” “When people talk about immunity certificates, people have to be very careful,” says Perlman. “You may have enough immunity to protect you from pneumonia, but you may not have enough immunity to prevent my infection. [with COVID-19] By you if you still shed the virus. Therefore, he said, the introduction of immunity passports may be “premature.”

“This is part of the whole confusing story,” says Perlman. “It’s not good when the antibody is gone. But on the other hand, if the antibody comes back quickly and is protected when the pathogen is encountered again, that’s good. There’s so much No information is available.”

Still, Perlman points out that suppressing epidemics ultimately saves lives. Therefore, if people are likely to be re-infected, but not seriously ill and not highly contagious, it may be possible to achieve some herd immunity. It all depends on whether they are contagious and whether they can be reinfected. “If most people are protected from severe pneumonia, the epidemic is under control. If you are protected and suddenly you are exposed to me and have symptoms like a cold, You may not want to catch a cold, but as long as everyone around you is in the same situation, we all have a cold, and as it does, it’s not terrible.”

“Even if our antibodies fall to undetectable levels, I would think we would be protected if we had 70 percent of the population. I’m not sure. There is no doubt that there is some protection equal to immunity.”

Some researchers speculate that if the antibodies are reduced, protection from the vaccine may do the same. “People have antibodies, but they are rapidly waning,” said one researcher. Said of San Francisco Chronicle.. Also, when antibodies are reduced, “there is a greater chance that the vaccine’s immunity will decline.”

Of course, it’s true that it’s not ideal to weaken immunity from a vaccine, but remember that Perlman still doesn’t have a clear picture of the situation. How much Antibodies decline. Just because your immune system is compromised doesn’t mean it’s gone. In addition, our immune system may respond differently to vaccines and natural infections. It may decline if they have a mild infection. We don’t know what the vaccine does: is it a mild or severe infection? And that’s a really important issue. “

When asking Perlman that he still had to make decisions about antibodies and reinfection, he showed the following query line:

1. “How much is declining [of antibodies] Does it really happen? “
2. “How relevant is this to the severity of the initial infection?” In other words, do the most severely ill patients show a better immune response, as seen by MERS?
3. “Can people with weakened immunity have severe pneumonia?” In other words, do they really get sick again?
4. “Did you drop anything such as RNA or virus?” People who shed viruses are infectious, but people who shed only RNA (virus remnants) are not infected. “That’s what I want to know.”