Studies show that post-infection coronavirus immunity is usually strong after 8 months

The coronavirus has been engulfed in unknowns and uncertainties since it first appeared more than a year ago. One of the biggest questions is whether people can be re-infected, and if so, how quickly they can be re-infected. There are isolated reports of people with a second case of covid-19, a disease caused by the virus, but it seems to be rare, and new studies reinforce cases where immunity is usually persistent. To do.

A review of blood samples from about 200 patients found that multiple components of the immune system, not just antibodies, remained effective in recognizing and responding to the virus. The human body appears to retain the intruder’s memory and is ready to rapidly generate a coordinated counterattack of antibodies and killer T cells when re-exposed.

This happens in concern Mutant mutant Of coronavirus England It spreads rapidly there. As of Thursday afternoon, it was seen in seven states in the United States, including two new states in Texas and Pennsylvania.

Scientists were generally optimistic that these mutants would not be able to escape the onslaught of the human immune system. But no one is seizing the opportunity. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff are stepping up strain monitoring programs to improve genome sequencing that allows scientists to study mutations.

The authors of the new study said they believe their findings apply not only to British variants, but also to the more common coronavirus. Reason: The immune response targets hundreds of different parts of the virus, but few are affected by the mutations seen so far.The· consensus Coronaviruses cooperatively require a vast number of transduction-enhancing mutations to evade innate or vaccine-induced immunity.

“The immune system that recognizes viruses has different arms, so even if there is a mutation, we cannot avoid all of these different arms,” ​​said Lahora Immunity, co-author of the study. Daniela Weiskov, a researcher at the Institute of Science, said.

The immune response to the virus gradually increases, peaks, and then begins to contract, but can reach a plateau and stay there for long periods of time. According to Weisskopf, most people who recover from a coronavirus infection eight months later appear to have relatively stable immunity.

“It won’t rot anymore. Based on that, it could be good for months or even years,” Weiskopf said.

The entire period of immunity must remain speculative for now, as the new coronavirus circulates in humans for only one year and there are no long-term data available. The oldest specimen studied by the Lahoya team was obtained about nine months ago, Weiskopf said.

There is one obvious caveat to this study. About 10% of people infected with the coronavirus feel that their immune response is weakened. There is no clear explanation as to why this happens to some people and not to others. The human immune system is very complex and the immune response varies greatly from person to person.

“The variety of immunity that comes from natural infections is very diverse. Research co-author Alessandro Sette, also in collaboration with the Lahoya Institute, can have large variations in clinical outcomes from coronavirus infections. It is reminiscent of the fact.

What that really means is that people who get sick with the virus or have a positive test result cannot be sure that they are in 90 percent of them with prolonged immunity. That’s what Sette said.

“Even if I had a covid, I didn’t throw away my mask or go to a rave party. People still have to take responsibility,” Sette said. “It’s like driving a car that you know has a 90% chance of braking.”

Nevertheless, this promising scientific result suggests that the human immune system is doing its job to combat this new coronavirus.

“The virus is less than two years old, so I don’t know what it will look like in two years,” Sette said. “But from its appearance, you wouldn’t be surprised if immunity lasts for years.”