After Covid-19: but hope for a strong and long-term immune defense?

Some researchers see these findings as the clearest indication so far that people after a Covid 19 disease may still have lasting protection against a new infection: In a US study, immunologists also have a significant reduction in antibodies, defense substances. , within six months, proven – which has previously led to concerns that there may be no long-term protection.

However, US researchers do not see any great danger in this decline: the remaining antibodies are more effective than those from the start of the infection, can block the replication of the virus, and are also produced in sufficient quantities by the immune system more quickly than a initial infection.

The study was conducted by Rockefeller University in New York and is only published as a preprint for the time being. “Our results are great news,” says one of the authors, Michael Nussenzweig, a The Guardian quoted. “The expectation is that people should be able to produce a rapid antibody response to a second infection and, in many cases, fight an infection.”

While it’s unclear how long immune memory lasts, there may be potential protection for a few years. This may explain why confirmed re-infections with the virus have so far been reported so rarely.