The COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage across the face of Earth, with the vast majority still dreaming a vaccine. Many of these may be beginning to wonder whether a mild COVOD-19 infection is their only escape. We were investigating whether durable immunity against secondary COVID is possible. And then we stumbled over an interesting piece of research published February 5, 2021 we wanted to share.
Immunological Memory of SARS-CoV-2 For Up to 8 Months
A team of scientists got together from various institutions across the western United States. They wanted to find out how long natural immunity lasts, against the SARS-CoV-2 virus causing COVID-19. Because they believed this would tell them the likely future course of the novel coronavirus pandemic, from a global perspective.
The team reached the conclusion durable immunity against secondary COVID lasts more than 5 months after infection. That’s because 90% of their subjects still had immunity at that point. However, there was a wide degree of diversity in the strength of this resistance. Despite this though, their research moved our knowledge forward.
The Basis for Durable Immunity Against Secondary COVID-19
The research team took 254 samples from 188 COVID-19 cases. Of these, 43 were taken at 6 and 8 months after their infection ended. Therefore, this was the largest study to date of the four different types of immunity to COVID they knew. Those immunity types have different kinetics in terms of the abundance of T cell, B cells, and antibody immune memory over time.
They concluded the post-infection period generated substantial immune memory of all four types. Some 95% of their subjects retained this after approximately 6 months following infection. The study used a small sample and we cannot generalize statistically from it. We believe it is insufficient reason to refuse the vaccine.
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Preview Image: Source AAAS Report
