Researchers who sent out home finger-prick tests to more than 365,000 randomly selected people in England found a more than 26% decline in Covid-19 antibodies over just three months.
“We observe a significant decline in the proportion of the population with detectable antibodies over three rounds of national surveillance, using a self-administered lateral flow test, 12, 18 and 24 weeks after the first peak of infections in England,” the team wrote in a pre-print version of their report, released before peer review.
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Still, not enough is known to determine if antibodies provide any effective level of immunity to Covid-19, or how long people may be immune to reinfection with the coronavirus.
Some infections, such as measles, cause what’s known as sterilizing immunity. People infected once have antibodies that can be detected for many years after infection.
With coronaviruses, scientists know less. It’s also unclear what contribution T cell immunity and the body’s memory responses to threats like Covid-19 will play in providing protection if someone is exposed again to the novel coronavirus. More research is needed to better understand the ongoing risks of reinfection.
Best in Moderation
Article URL : https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/26/health/covid-19-immunity-wanes-large-study-finds/index.html