COVID-19 vaccine: GP slams government over messaging
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info
In the study, the blood of people who were infected in the first wave of the pandemic and then recovered seemed to have retained antibodies for up to at least 10 months post-onset of symptoms (POS). The research team’s latest study followed an earlier study, also concerned with how long the antibodies stayed in the blood of Covid-19 patients. The research team wrote in the study paper, led by Liane Dupont, an Infectious disease from King’s College London: “Initial concerns were that the SARS-CoV-2 antibody response might mimic that of other human endemic coronaviruses, such as 229E, for which antibody responses are short-lived and re-infections occur.
“However, our data and that of other recent studies show that although neutralizing antibody titers decline from an initial peak response, robust neutralizing activity against both pseudotyped viral particles and the infectious virus can still be detected in a large proportion of convalescent sera at up to 10 months POS.”
In the study, researchers examined 38 individuals, who were a mix of patients and healthcare workers, all of whom were infected in the first wave of the pandemic.
A previous study by some of the same team revealed that SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels began to drop after reaching peak levels at about three to five weeks POS, and it wasn’t known if the drop continued beyond the three-month point POS.
But the new study has given promising signs.
Neutralizing antibodies were still found in convalescent sera for up to 10 months POS – the point where the study was ended and data was released for publication.
There was also evidence of some cross-neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2 variants, which means that people who were only exposed to the original ‘wild type’ SARS-CoV-2 might still have some level of protection from later, mutated variants, but at lower levels.
The researchers said that other results showed that infection with the SARS-CoV-2 variants “generates a cross-neutralizing antibody response that is effective against the parental virus but has reduced neutralization against divergent lineages”.
They also said that currently, vaccines developed using the spike protein from the original virus will most likely provide the most effective antibody response against current worrying variants, as well as newly emerging lineages.
The researchers also wrote: “Although sustained neutralization against the infecting SARS-CoV-2 variant is important, efficacious cross-neutralizing activity is essential for long-term protection against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.
DON’T MISS
China among 100 nations to join UK in ‘unprecedented’ £14bn pledge [REPORT]
AstraZeneca and Pfizer jabs linked with new side effect [INSIGHT]
Archaeologists stunned by discovery that ‘revolutionised Bible’ [REVEAL]
“Observations suggest that COVID-19 vaccine boosting could be an important step for increasing both neutralization breadth and vaccine efficacy against newly emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.”
The findings of the study were published in the journal Nature Microbiology.
Source: Read Full Article
