Anyone who has survived a corona infection hopes to be immune to it.
British researchers have now evaluated current data on this.
Another piece of the puzzle on the question of corona immunity.
London - are people immune after a corona infection?
And how long does immunity last after infection?
Researchers around the world are looking for an answer to these questions.
Corona infection: Antibodies a form of the body's immune defense
The human immune system is very complex.
When infected, the immune system tries to make antibodies against the virus.
There are special antibodies - protein molecules - against the virus.
People survive a virus infection because their immune system has produced neutralizing antibodies against the pathogen.
These can then be detected in the human blood.
The antibodies give an indication of the immunity.
In addition to antibodies, the immune system also fights with
specific immune cells
, including the so-called
T cells
, as the Berlin University Charité explains.
These T cells are white blood cells.
They are called T cells because they mature in the thymus.
There are T cells that recognize and kill cells in the body that have been infected by a virus.
Others activate so-called B cells, which form defense substances, antibodies.
You also seem to be responsible for the different course of a Covid 19 disease.
Immune after a corona infection?
After a coronavirus infection, it is currently unclear whether and how long those who have recovered are immune after illness.
Also how long antibodies have been present in the blood and whether their concentration is sufficient for an effective defense.
In people with a mild or even asymptotic corona infection, it even decreases relatively quickly, writes the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) under the keyword "immunity" in the profile of the "novel corona virus".
So far, only a few cases of reinfections have been described, according to the RKI.
Here there would have been "changes in the viral genome of the viruses" that would have been detectable in the various infection episodes.
The RKI does not finally rule out reinfection in its assessment.
That means: at least not all people are immune for life after an infection.
What is certain is that people who have had a corona infection - that is, have recovered - are at least temporarily protected from re-infection.
The risk of getting Covid-19 again is low, but still possible.
In general, the number of antibodies seems to be a decisive criterion for immunity.
Video: Monoclonal Antibodies - Rescue in the Fight Against Covid-19?
British study - Corona antibodies in infected people
A study by the UK Biobank, the largest biomedical database, now provides another piece of the puzzle in the knowledge of immunity after a corona infection.
Almost 90 percent of those infected with corona have antibodies against the corona virus in their bodies six months after being infected.
That is the central result of the UK biobank study.
In 88 percent of the subjects examined, antibodies could have been detected after the full six months of the investigation, after three months this was the case in 99 percent of the patients.
"Although we cannot be sure to what extent this is associated with immunity, the findings suggest that people could be protected from re-infection for at least six months," said chief researcher Naomi Allen.
UK Biobank: Corona Antibody Study
Antibodies detected in corona infected people: 99 percent after three months
Antibodies detected in corona infected people: 88 percent after six months
Can antibodies be found in the subjects' bodies for longer than six months?
The researchers want to find out in further studies.
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