CCP Virus Antibodies Determining Immunity in a Recovered Person Can Be Lost in Months: Research

A health worker takes a drop of blood for a COVID-19 antibody test in Torrance, Calif., on May 5, 2020. Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images

People who recover from the CCP virus develop antibodies to the disease, antibodies that determine a person’s future immunity to the disease, but a new study says that immunity may be lost within months.

The study, published July 11 (pdf), was conducted by health care workers at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ National Health Service Foundation Trust in London. They studied immune response in patients and found that the antibodies to COVID-19—the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus—decreased within a number of weeks after the onset of symptoms.

The study found that 60 percent of the people showed a potent antibody response about 23 days after the onset of symptoms whereas only 16.7 percent had the same response 65 days later. The researchers found that people who recovered from severe infection had a stronger and longer-lasting antibody response.

“We demonstrate that the magnitude of the nAb response is dependent upon the disease severity, but this does not affect the kinetics of the nAb response. Declining nAb (neutralizing antibody) titres were observed during the follow-up period,” said the researchers in the preprint of the study.

Paperwork is pictured forming part of an Antibody Test Kit which identifies antibodies related to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in London, Britain, on May 28, 2020. Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images

The study consisted of 59 individuals and 6 health care workers with 77.2 percent of them being males. Sequential serum samples were collected from patients’ bodies one day to 94 days after the onset of symptoms between March and June.

The researchers said antibody responses to other coronaviruses have been found to wane over the course of time. In SARS-CoV2 and MERS, antibodies were found in some people 12-34 months after infection.

Many studies have worked on the neutralizing antibody response in the CCP virus or the SARS-CoV-2 infection but there’s a paucity of information on the longevity of the nAb response, according to the statement.

“This study has important implications when considering widespread serological testing, Ab protection against re-infection with SARS-CoV-2 and the durability of vaccine protection,” said the researchers.