One of the lots of unknowns about the unique coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is how we might become immune to it. When you get contaminated with infections, in addition to other baddies like bacteria, your immune system battles back by producing proteins called antibodies. These remain for the long run, and your body is prepared to churn out more of them if you come into contact with the pathogen again.
It’s how vaccines work: By introducing a dead or weakened version of an infection to your immune system, you fool it into producing antibodies in action. Then if you come into contact with the genuine infection, your body will be prepared.
Infections differ extensively in regards to the immune action they elicit. For example, if you got chicken pox as a kid, you are likely to be unsusceptible to reinfection for the rest of your life. With whooping cough, resistance might last for as much as 20 years, and for the H1N1 flu strain, as much as10 With the seasonal coronaviruses that trigger the cold, resistance fades after a few months, which is why you can get new infections every year.
However when it concerns SARS-CoV-2, “because this is such a brand-new infection, we’re unsure the length of time those antibodies spend time for,” says Dr. Seema Yasmin, director of the Stanford Health Communication Effort.
Our best bet might be to compare it to the initial SARS coronavirus, SARS-CoV. In clients infected with this infection, antibody levels peaked between 2 and 4 months after infection and used defense for two to three years. “I think the glimmer of hope might be that there’s a lot genetic similarity in between SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV,” adds Yasmin.
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Mentioning genetics, another virus to consider as a comparison is HIV. This infection is so hard to deal with since it mutates like mad as it multiplies. The human body might establish an antibody, but it’s one that will end up being less efficient as the virus modifications. “Some great news on the coronavirus front is this infection does not seem to alter anywhere near as often as HIV mutates,” states Yasmin. “That means it stays a lot more consistent, and it means we have far less of a moving target.”
Finding more about how resistance to this new coronavirus works will be key to fighting the pandemic. The more individuals who become immune– either from beating an infection or from getting a vaccine– the closer we get to herd immunity, or the point at which most members of the population have antibodies. We’ll start to slow and eventually stop the pandemic.
To read more about how antibodies work, and how they may help in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, take a look at our video with Yasmin above.
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