A new study from the United Kingdom has found that the antibodies against the novel coronavirus decline rapidly over time, Reuters reports.
What happened?
Scientists from Imperial College London reviewed antibody levels from British COVID-19 patients after the first wave in March and April.
The study found antibodies prevalence dropped over the summer.
- 6% of the population of patients had them in June.
- 4.4% had the antibodies by September.
Reuters said: “That raises the prospect of decreasing population immunity ahead of a second wave of infections in recent weeks that has forced local lockdowns and restrictions.”
Immunity may not last forever
Scientists involved in the study said this recent evidence — along with previous research about other coronaviruses — suggest immunity may not be cut and dry, and it will be lost over time.
Wendy Barclay, head of the Department of Infectious Disease at Imperial College London told Reuters:
- “We can see the antibodies and we can see them declining and we know that antibodies on their own are quite protective.
- “On the balance of evidence I would say, with what we know for other coronaviruses, it would look as if immunity declines away at the same rate as antibodies decline away, and that this is an indication of waning immunity at the population level.”
Flashback:
Back in July, researchers found that antibodies could have a 73-day half-life, meaning that half of them would die within 73 days of first offering protection, as I wrote for the Deseret News.
- That study was published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
- “Our findings raise concern that humoral immunity against SARS-CoV-2 may not be long-lasting in persons with mild illness, who compose the majority of persons with COVID-19,” according to Dr. Otto Yang and others at the University of California, Los Angeles, who wrote for the study, according to CNN.