are already infected people permanently immune?

A recent US study suggests that people who have already been infected with the coronavirus benefit from long-term immunity. These people would develop immune cells whose presence can be registered over time. If the duration of this immunity cannot be precisely defined, these have been very encouraging results.

Immunity of at least six months

Although collective immunity is no longer one of the options for fighting the pandemic, scientists continue to investigate how long patients are immunized after infection with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. A study published on the bioRxiv platform on November 16, 2020 is quite optimistic on the matter. Researchers from the University of California (USA) studied blood samples from 185 men and women from 19 to 81 years old.

Recovered, these people experienced mild symptoms during the coronavirus infection. The researchers considered several elements that participate in the immune system. Let’s mention them Cells B. producing antibodies and two types of T cells., whose mission is to destroy infected cells.

According to the results, the antibodies that patients develop remain in the body between six and eight months before decreasing slightly. The same goes for T cells. On the other hand, the amount of B cells increases, but scientists don’t know how to explain this phenomenon.

Results to be considered with caution

This work does not allow to know how long immunity against the coronavirus lasts. On the other hand, they keep hope for lasting immunity, which is a good sign for the evolution of the pandemic. Also, remember that the first vaccines promised by Moderna, Pfizer or Russia aren’t ready yet.

“We absolutely needed to know if reinfection was going to be a problem. And so, to see the evidence that we have this kind of persistent and robust response, at least in these times, is very encouraging. […] Such an amount of immunological memory would likely allow most people not to be hospitalized again and severely affected by the disease for years to come. “ Virologist co-author of the study Shane Crotty told the New York Times.

However, this work should be viewed with caution. In fact, these were only pre-published. In other words, the study has not yet been verified from peers.