Scientists from Italy and the United Kingdom have found what antibody levels in coronavirus patients depend on.
To do this, they study the entire population of a small town in Italy. The researchers used three different tests to control the results, RIA Novosti reported.
It turns out that for 9 months the antibodies remain at high levels in both critically ill and asymptomatic COVID-19, but the absolute values depend a lot on the type of test. The article was published in a magazine Nature Communications.
–
Researchers from the University of Padua and Imperial College London are testing for SARS-CoV-2 infection and antibodies three times in 2020 – in February-March, May and November – 86% of the population of the Italian city of Vaud, which has a population about 3,000 people.
The authors found that 98.8% of people infected in February and March had high levels of antibodies by November, whether they had a severe, mild or asymptomatic form of the disease.
The researchers tested the antibodies with three different tests that found different species that responded to different parts of the virus. The results showed that although all antibody types showed a slight decline between May and November, the rate of decline varied depending on the type of test.
–
The authors cite other interesting data in their article. They believe that only one in four people have transmitted the infection to other people, even within a household, and that the majority of transmission, 79%, has occurred in 20% of carriers who can be described as active distributors.
Therefore, the researchers conclude that behavioral factors – personal responsibility, limiting contact, distance and wearing masks – remain key to controlling the epidemic, even at high levels of vaccination.
– .
