A study conducted by researchers from the Sorbonne, the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital, Inserm and the Institut Pasteur, published Monday, February 8, 2021 in Nature Communications, provides new information concerning antibodies neutralizing Covid-19. Scientists analyzed data from 26 healthcare workers who contracted a mild form of the disease. “All of these professionals developed antibodies between 2 and 4 weeks after the onset of symptoms as well as a neutralizing response to SARS-CoV-2”, stress the researchers in their report.
Problem: the researchers observed that this protection, the systemic IgA antibodies, “decline rapidly, as early as two months after the onset of symptoms”. “Despite this decrease in the neutralizing response, the level of IgG antibodies, usually considered protective and long-lasting, is maintained between two and three months after the onset of signs,” continue the scientists.
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Clearly, for those caregivers who have contracted a moderate form of the disease, it seems that the antibodies have a fairly short lifespan. What raise concerns about a possible reinfection two months after the first contamination. Consequently, the researchers recommend keeping preventive measures in place (barrier gestures, distancing, masks, etc.) and insist on the need to rapidly vaccinate populations.
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Another study, carried out between May 27 and December 4, 2020 by UK Biobank using blood samples from 1,700 people who tested positive, and relayed by the BBC, indicated that 88% of them still had antibodies in the blood six months after infection. In the case of a mild form of the disease, it would therefore seem that the lifespan of the antibodies is much shorter.
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