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How long can coronavirus immunity last? Previous studies have suggested that people who have had COVID-19 lose their antibodies after just a few months. The conclusions reached by the San Diego researchers are very different, and as the NYT magazine that wrote about them notes, “they may bring some relief to the experts.” “This is exciting news,” comments an immunologist at Yale University.
- University of California, San Diego: The body’s immunity can last years or decades
- Immunologist Akiko Iwasaki said experts predicted this outcome
- NYT: Discoveries May Relieve Experts Worried About Virus Resistance May Be Short-lived
- For more up-to-date information on the coronavirus epidemic, visit the TvoiLokony home page
Immunity against SARS-CoV-2 can last for years or even decades
The duration of immunity against the coronavirus in people who have become infected is anxiously watched by scientists. At the end of October, British specialists reported that the level of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in people who had passed the infection was falling within just a few months.
On November 17, the New York Times magazine described the results of research by scientists from the University of California, San Diego, devoted to the durability of immunity against the coronavirus. What scientists have figured out may surprise, delight, relieve, or a little bit of everything. “This is exciting news” – commented on the work of colleagues prof. Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University. Where does this optimism come from?
Blood samples from convalescents suggest a strong long-term immune response, the researchers said. In their opinion, the body’s resistance to SARS-CoV-2 may last years or even decades.
The research of the team from the University of California has not been reviewed or published in scientific journals (at the moment it was published on the Internet). However, as the magazine points out, this is the most comprehensive and long-term study of coronavirus immune memory to date.
What do scientists base their conclusions on? After testing blood drawn from 85 people aged 19 to 81 who defeated COVID-19, it was found that even eight months after recovery, most still have enough immune cells to ward off the virus and prevent reinfection. “The slow rate of decline in antibodies in the short term suggests that these cells can stay in the body for a very, very long time,” the magazine notes.
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Importantly, similar conclusions were drawn by other studies. It turns out, for example, that people who fell ill and survived the SARS epidemic (2002-2004) caused by another coronavirus, still have important immune cells, although about 17 years have passed since they recovered.
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Researchers from the University of Washington, led by the immunologist Marion Pepper, showed that certain memory lymphocytes, formed after coronavirus infection, remain in the body for at least three months (remember – thanks to memory lymphocytes it is possible to react quickly with the next contact with the pathogen) . A study published last week showed that people who recovered from COVID-19 have so-called NK cells (Natural Killer – immune cells called natural killers that destroy, for example, cells infected with viruses), even if the antibodies are not detectable.
The immunologist about the test results: this is what should happen
Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University, was not surprised by the University of California’s findings because “that’s what it should be like.” Still, the research cheered her up: “This is exciting news,” she said in the NYT.
As noted by Shane Crotty, a virologist at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology, who participated in the study, “such a strong immune memory would probably protect large numbers of people from hospitalization and the severe consequences of infection for many years”.
The NYT magazine notes that “the findings may bring relief to experts who fear that immunity to the virus may be short-lived and that multiple vaccinations may be necessary to control the pandemic.”
It is difficult to accurately determine the duration of immunity. Scientists do not yet know what levels of the various immune cells are needed to protect against the virus. However, research to date suggests that even a small number of antibodies or T and B lymphocytes (the most important cells of the immune system) may be enough to protect those who have recovered. So far, study participants have produced these cells in solid amounts. ‘There is no indication that memory cell levels will suddenly drop, that would be quite unusual,’ said Dr Iwasaki. – Usually we deal with a slow decomposition spread over the years – explains the immunologist.
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