People already infected with Covid-19 would have long-lasting immunity, according to a study

© Copyright 2020, L’Obs

If you’ve been infected with Covid-19, are you immune for a long time? An American study published on Monday November 16 and reported by the “New Tork Times” examined the matter and is rather reassuring. However, it has not been peer reviewed. This summer, another study reported immunity that would only last a few months.

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Data were collected from 185 patients, women and men, aged 19 to 81 years. These patients, recovered from a first Covid-19 infection, would have, eight months later, enough immune cells to resist a new infection.

Immunity estimated between 6 and 8 months

The people behind the study determined that the antibodies were effective in resisting reinfection for six to eight months after infection.

Immunological memory for SARS-CoV-2 evaluated for more than six months after infection https://t.co/scfgjWOOZn #bioRxiv

—Biorxivpreprint (@bioRxiv)

The team that started the study analyzed components of the immune system: antibodies, B cells that create antibodies, and T cells that kill other infected cells.

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The team found that antibody survival was sustainable with a slight decline between ten and eight months after infection. T cells are also decreasing very slowly in the body. Conversely, the researchers found that B cells increased significantly but failed to fully explain the reason.

Only a small number of people in the study group showed no signs of long-lasting immunity after recovery. The weak decline in immune cells reflects their persistence over time for researchers.

More durable protection?

Although these elements do not make it possible to guarantee a duration of immunity with certainty, the researchers believe that these elements point in the direction of lasting immunity.

“There is no sign that the memory in the cells will suddenly collapse. It would be unusual “, Yale University immunologist Dr. Akiko Iwasaki, points out to the New York Times. “In general, there is a slow decline over the years. “

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For virologist Shane Crotty of the Jolla Institute of Immunology, who co-led the study, “This amount of immunological memory would likely prevent the vast majority of people from being hospitalized with the disease for several years.”

Dr. Bhattacharya is even more optimistic. “I don’t think it’s an unreasonable prediction to think that these components of immunological memory could persist for years,” argues with the “New York Times”.