JAKARTA, KOMPAS – According to a number of studies, the antibodies formed in the immune system of Covid-19 patients are temporary. People who recover from Covid-19 still have the potential to be infected again in the future. Later, if it is available, the Covid-19 vaccine will need to be given twice.
This was conveyed by the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Sunday (16/8/2020) local time. This statement is a clarification of the quarantine guidelines released by the CDC in early August 2020.
In the guidelines, people who recover from Covid-19 are not required to undergo tests or quarantine for up to three months. This applies if the person is not showing symptoms of disease. Afterwards, the CDC stressed that this does not mean that Covid-19 survivors are immune to future reinfection.
This is influenced by the immune system against Covid-19. A number of reports state that Covid-19 patients will form antibodies after being infected. However, the antibodies only lasted three months.
This study on the Covid-19 antibody was published by King’s College London, England, in July 2020. The study involved more than 90 patients and health workers in two hospitals, namely Guy’s Hospital and St Thomas’s Hospital, London.
The results of blood tests found that 60 percent of the participants were able to build up sufficient amounts of antibodies to fight the new coronavirus. Meanwhile, only 17 percent of participants whose antibody counts remained after three months.
If the second vaccine is administered more than a month after the first vaccine, the number of antibodies that have been formed will drop significantly. This affects the body’s resistance to Covid-19.
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“People produce antibodies that are sufficient to respond to viruses, but those antibodies will decrease over a short period of time,” Katie Doores, head of the study at King’s College London, told The Guardian.
Also read: Immunity to Covid-19 Only Three Months
As for research from Chongqing Medical University, China, found that Covid-19 antibodies persist in the body for 2-3 months after infection occurs. This is especially true of asymptomatic Covid-19 patients. This research was published in the journal Nature Medicine in June 2020 (Kompas, 20/6/2020).
The time for Covid-19 antibodies to stay in the body is shorter than antibodies against other coronaviruses. According to a number of studies, the corona virus antibodies that cause SARS and MERS can last for about a year.
Vaccine twice
University of Indonesia epidemiologist, Tri Yunis Miko, said that the Covid-19 vaccine injection needs to be done twice. The maximum interval for the first and second vaccinations is one month.
Twice vaccinations are needed because the Covid-19 antibodies are short lived. This is the same with influenza vaccination. Influenza antibodies also last for a short time, namely 1-3 years or under 1 year.
“If the second vaccine is carried out more than a month after the first vaccine, the number of antibodies that have been formed will drop significantly. This affects the body’s resistance to Covid-19, ”he said when contacted, Sunday (16/8/2020).
Also read: Antibodies Temporarily Protect Against Covid-19
The same thing was said by the Head of the Covid-19 Control Task Force of the Association of Indonesian Public Health Experts (IAKMI) Budi Haryanto. Vaccinations must be done twice so that the number of antibodies is adequate to fight the new corona virus.
“The virus will reproduce itself in the body. For that, the number of our antibodies must be adequate to fight the virus. If the antibodies are outnumbered and unable to cope with the amount of virus that enters the body, we can get sick. At worst, someone could die, “said Budi, who is also a Professor of Epidemiology of Air Pollution and Environmental Health Surveillance at the Faculty of Public Health, University of Indonesia. (REUTERS / BBC / THE GUARDIAN)
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