Is victory impossible?
Those who have been ill remain immune to the coronavirus for only 2-3 months
Georgy Golovanov, Hi-tech+
Chinese scientists conducted a preliminary study of carriers of coronavirus infection and found that after eight weeks, most of the antibody levels decrease. And this happens especially quickly in asymptomatic patients – in 40% of them they cease to be detected at all. These results call into question the fundamental possibility of developing population immunity and a complete victory over the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Scientists from the Medical University of Chuqing published an article in the journal Nature Medicine (Long et al., Clinical and immunological assessment of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections) on the study of 37 asymptomatic cases of coronavirus infection on the material of patients from the Chinese province of Wanzhou, CNBC reports. They compared the reaction of their antibodies with the immune response of 37 infected people who showed symptoms. And they found that patients without symptoms have a weaker immune response than those with pronounced symptoms.
During the eight weeks of follow-up, the antibody content decreased in 81% of asymptomatic patients and in 62% of carriers with COVID-19 symptoms. In addition, the number of antibodies decreased to an undetectable level in 40% of asymptomatic cases, compared with 12.9% in symptomatic cases.
Despite the small scale of the study, scientists note that the results may spur world leaders to rethink the introduction of so-called "immunity passports", the introduction of which has been thought about in a number of countries. These documents, according to the plan, should facilitate isolation measures for those who have already been ill and could return to work without fear of re-infection.
It follows from the results of the study that repeated infections are just a matter of time, stable immunity to the virus, especially in asymptomatic patients, is not developed. And temporary immunity is not enough for more than 2-3 months.
Scientists emphasize that they are still studying key aspects of the virus' action, including the body's immune response. The answers will help in developing a vaccine and assessing the rate of formation of immunity in the population.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said earlier that the vaccine may not provide long-term immunity if Covid-19 behaves like other coronaviruses. "Using the example of other more studied coronaviruses, which cause, in particular, the common cold, it is clear that the duration of protective immunity ranges from three to six months and is almost always less than a year," Fauci said on June 2 in an interview with the medical publication JAMA.
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