We’d better leave the track of group immunity, according to a large British study into antibodies. The researchers found that the number of people with antibodies fell by more than a quarter between June 20 and September 28.
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Scientists at Imperial College London screened 365,000 people for antibodies to the novel coronavirus in three phases of testing between June and September. Around the end of June and the beginning of July – when the lockdown in the UK was relaxed – 6 percent of the people studied were found to have antibodies. At the start of the second wave last month, this fell by 26 percent to barely 4.4 percent. The decline was in all age groups, but not among health workers. According to the experts, this could be related to an initial higher or a repeated exposure to the virus. The loss of antibodies was higher in the elderly than in the young: a decrease of 39 and 14.9 percent respectively. In three months, the decrease was greatest in people with antibodies (64 percent) who reported no history of Covid-19.
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One of the researchers, Professor Helen Ward, says that these results do not suggest that herd immunity is feasible. Flock immunity requires 50 to 60 percent of the population to be immune to the virus, so that it stops spreading. “When you consider that 95 out of 100 people are probably still susceptible after all, we are a long way from anything that would come close to protecting the population as a whole from further transmission,” said Ward. “You cannot use this as a strategy to keep infections in the population under control.”
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Herbsmetting
The proportion of people with antibodies therefore decreases over time. “We don’t know yet if this also puts these people at risk of recontamination with the virus that causes Covid-19,” Ward added. But it cannot be ruled out that the relapse of antibodies could mean that people can regularly become infected again, as is the case with other coronaviruses that cause colds. Antibody counts typically peak three to four weeks after symptoms and then relapse, explains another study author, Professor Wendy Barclay. “Seasonal coronaviruses that circulate every winter and cause common colds can re-infect people after six to 12 months,” said Barclay. “We suspect that our body will respond in a similar way to the new corona virus.”
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Only a few cases of recontamination have been reported so far.
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Antibodies indicate that someone has already had the virus infection, but do not equate to immunity. “Our study shows that over time there has been a decrease in the number of people who test positive for antibodies. Testing positive for antibodies does not mean you are immune to Covid-19. It remains unclear what level of immunity antibodies provide, or how long this immunity lasts, ”said Professor Paul Elliott, director of the study.
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Flanders will then become stricter: these new measures will soon be discussed (+)
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Will this Flemish breath test make life normal again next summer? (+)
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