Covid antibodies fall rapidly, says UK research

London, October 27

The hope for long-term immunity from Covid-19 was thrown into doubt on Tuesday as a big UK examine concluded that protecting antibodies in folks fall “quite rapidly” after a coronavirus an infection.

Imperial College London’s analysis, which examined greater than 365,000 folks in England, discovered that antibody response to the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 wanes over time, which signifies that any stage of immunity may final just a few months.

“Seasonal coronaviruses that circulate every winter and cause common colds can re-infect people after six to 12 months,” stated professor Wendy Barclay, a virologist who was one of many researchers on the examine.

“We suspect that the way the body reacts to infection with this new coronavirus is similar to that,” she stated.

Antibodies are a key a part of the physique’s immune defences and cease viruses from getting contained in the physique’s cells. The Imperial College London group discovered the variety of folks testing positive with a finger-prick test for antibodies has fallen by 26 per cent between June and September.

“Our study shows that over time there is a reduction in the proportion of people testing positive for antibodies,” stated professor Paul Elliott, director of the programme at Imperial College London.

“Testing positive for antibodies does not mean you are immune to COVID-19. It remains unclear what level of immunity antibodies provide, or for how long this immunity lasts. If someone tests positive for antibodies, they still need to follow national guidelines including social distancing measures, getting a swab test if they have symptoms and wearing face coverings where required,” he stated.

The downward pattern was noticed in all areas of England and age teams, however not in well being employees, which may point out repeated or greater preliminary publicity to the virus, the authors counsel.

“This very giant examine has proven that the proportion of individuals with detectable antibodies is falling over time. We do not but know whether or not this may depart these folks liable to reinfection with the virus that causes COVID-19, however it’s important that everybody continues to comply with steering to scale back the chance to themselves and others,” stated professor Helen Ward, one of many lead authors.

The decline was largest in folks aged 75 and above in comparison with youthful folks, and in addition in folks with suspected slightly than confirmed an infection, indicating that the antibody response varies by age and with the severity of sickness. PTI