Swedes & Italians Lead Study Indicating Long Natural Immunity Associated with COVID-19 Although Some Risks with Delta & Other Variants
A large team of Swedish and Italian scientists
(microbiologists, virologists, immunologists, and others) sought to better
understand natural immunity associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection—that is
COVID-19 illness. What is the longevity for immunity to COVID-19 following
natural infection? The level of so-called durability of natural immunity and
even vaccine-induced immunity is just now starting to be better understood. Led
by the corresponding author Harold Marcotte with the Karolinska Institutet in
Stockholm Sweden the research team monitored SARS-CoV-2 specific immune
response in convalescent COVID-19 patients up to 15 months after symptoms
started. In this study funded by the EU-ATAC Consortium, the Italian Ministry
of Health, the Swedish Research Council, SciLifeLab, and KAW the investigators
determined that based on their observations the data implies that antiviral
specific immunity, particularly among member B cells in COVID-19 convalescent
patients is long-lasting, however, some variants raise concerns. For example,
the researchers suggest that the highly transmissible Delta variant may
partially evade the neutralizing activity of plasma antibodies.
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