NY Times: Signs that Covid antibodies confer lasting immunity…“This calls for some optimism about herd immunity,” said Smita Iyer, an immunologist at the University of California, Davis.
Aug. 16, 2020, “Scientists See Signs of Lasting Virus Immunity, Even After Mild Infections,” NY Times
“Even mild Covid-19 cases confer ‘durable immunity,’ new studies find.”
“Scientists who have been monitoring immune responses to the coronavirus for months are now starting to see encouraging signs of strong, lasting immunity, even in people who developed only mild symptoms of Covid-19, a flurry of new studies has found.
Disease-fighting antibodies, as well as immune cells called B cells and T cells capable of recognizing the virus, appear to persist months after infections have resolved-–an encouraging echo of the body’s robust immune response to other viruses.
“This is exactly what you would hope for,” said Marion Pepper, an immunologist at the University of Washington and an author on one of the new studies, which is currently under review at the journal Nature. “All the pieces are there to have a totally protective immune response.”
“This is very promising,” said Smita Iyer, an immunologist at the University of California, Davis, who is studying immune responses to the coronavirus in rhesus macaques and was not involved in these papers. “This calls for some optimism about herd immunity, and potentially a vaccine.”
Research on the coronavirus is proceeding so quickly, and in such volume, that the traditional review process often cannot keep pace. For the studies discussed here — as with un-peer-reviewed studies in general — The Times arranged for several experts to read and evaluate them.
Although researchers cannot forecast how long these immune responses will last, many experts consider the data a welcome indication that the body has a good chance of fending off the coronavirus if exposed to it again.
“Things are really working as they’re supposed to,” said Deepta Bhattacharya, an immunologist at the University of Arizona and an author on one of the new studies, which has not yet been peer reviewed.
Protection against reinfection cannot be fully confirmed until there is proof that most people who encounter the virus a second time are actually able to keep it at bay, Dr. Pepper said. But the findings could help quell recent concerns over the virus’s ability to dupe the immune system into amnesia, leaving people vulnerable to repeat bouts of disease.”
.....
Added: Antibody rate of 25% in New Jersey “hot spots,” 15,000 hospital workers across NJ tested:
“Hackensack Meridian Health, which includes 12 in-patient facilities [in New Jersey], has tested 15,000 workers across the state [for antibodies] and found a 12% infection rate. But the numbers varied widely depending on location-–they were as low as 5% in South Jersey and as high as 25% in the northern part of the state, where the virus was widespread."
Random testing of 3,000 people in New York State indicated that one in five people in New York City had antibodies for the virus in April, when the pandemic was at its height in the area. There hasn’t been a similar study released in New Jersey [as of June 22].”
June 22, 2020, “Antibody tests indicate coronavirus infected people of all ages; few get it without symptoms,” NorthJersey.com via NJ Herald, Abbott Koloff
“Hackensack Meridian Health, which includes 12 in-patient facilities [in New Jersey], has tested 15,000 workers across the state [of NJ for antibodies] and found a 12% infection rate. But the numbers varied widely depending on location–they were as low as 5% in South Jersey and as high as 25% in the northern part of the state, where the virus was widespread.
“We’re seeing a distribution that reflects the way COVID-19 hit the state,” said Daniel Varga, the chief physician executive for Hackensack Meridian Health. “It reflects the counties that are hardest hit.”…
Hospitals and doctors have been using the antibody tests for months, taking blood samples that are used to determine whether people had the virus at some point and developed antibodies to fight it, which usually develop weeks after the infection. The tests do not reveal the active virus….
Health experts believe antibodies may help keep people from being re-infected with the novel coronavirus. But that hasn’t been proven, and medical experts do not yet know the amount of antibodies needed or how long the protection would last….
Random testing of 3000 people in New York State indicated that one in five people in New York City had antibodies for the virus in April, when the pandemic was at its height in the area. There hasn’t been a similar study released in New Jersey [as of June 22]. But samplings of hospitals and physicians conducting thousands of tests provide a snapshot of the spread of the virus and reveal some of its characteristics.”…
.......
………………………………
Added: Referenced in above article: NY State government antibody test results as of April: 2.7 million total “cases” in NY State, as high as 21% in “hot spots” like NY City, lower in other parts of the state:
April 23, 2020, “Nearly 3 million New Yorkers have had coronavirus, antibody study suggests," Fox News, Greg Norman
“New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo revealed Thursday that preliminary results from a coronavirus antibody study show the statewide infection rate is 13.9 percent, which would mean around 2.7 million residents could have carried the disease.
The 3,000 samples were collected from 40 sites in 19 counties, according to Cuomo, and suggested the [presence of antibodies] infection rate [had virus at some time and experienced few if any consequences] is as high as 21.2 percent in places like New York City.
“These are people who were infected and who developed the antibodies to fight the infection,” Cuomo said. “They had the virus, they developed the antibodies and they are now ‘recovered’.”
……………………………..
No comments:
Post a Comment