Immunity to coronavirus lingers for months, new study finds

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Thu, 2020-10-29 10:35 — mike kraft

Immunity to coronavirus lingers for months, study finds Immunity to Covid-19 infection lingers for at least five months, researchers reported -- and probably longer than that. Maggie Fox, CNN CNN

(CNN)Immunity to Covid-19 infection lingers for at least five months, researchers reported -- and probably longer than that.

While the report may seem confusing and contradictory to a similar report out of Britain this week, it really isn't. People's bodies produce an army of immune compounds in response to an infection and some are overwhelming at first, dying off quickly, while others build more slowly.

The new report out Wednesday shows 90% of people who recover from Covid-19 infections keep a stable antibody response.

While some reports have come out saying antibodies to this virus go away quickly, we have found just the opposite -- that more than 90% of people who were mildly or moderately ill produce an antibody response strong enough to neutralize the virus, and the response is maintained for many months," Florian Krammer, a professor of vaccinology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who led the study team, said in a statement.

The team looked at the antibody responses of more than 30,000 people who tested positive for Covid-19 at Mount Sinai's Health System between March and October. They characterized their antibody responses as low, moderate or high. More than 90% had moderate to high levels, or titers, of antibodies to the spike protein of the virus -- the structure it uses to grapple the cells it infects.

They then closely studied 121 patients who recovered and donated their plasma -- once three months after they first developed symptoms, and again five months later.

They did see a drop-off in some antibodies. But others persisted, they reported in the journal Science. ...

Also see:Why You Shouldn’t Worry About Studies Showing Waning Coronavirus Antibodies --NY Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/27/health/coronavirus-antibodies-studies.html

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