Story at a glance
- The studies found disease-fighting antibodies and immune cells capable of recognizing the virus in patients appeared to persist for months after coronavirus infections cleared up.
- The preliminary research is an encouraging sign that most people who come into contact with the virus a second time have a good chance of fighting it off.
- Scientists cautioned more research is necessary to understand if most people are truly able to fight off the virus if exposed a second time.
New research shows signs of strong, lasting immunity in people who have been infected with the coronavirus, including those who experienced only mild COVID-19 symptoms, according to a report from the New York Times.
A series of new studies, which have yet to be peer reviewed, found disease-fighting antibodies and immune cells capable of recognizing the virus in patients appeared to persist for months after coronavirus infections cleared up.
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The preliminary research is an encouraging sign that most people who come into contact with the virus a second time have a good chance of fighting it off.
“This is exactly what you would hope for,” Marion Pepper, an immunologist at the University of Washington and an author on one of the studies currently under review at the journal Nature, told the New York Times. “All the pieces are there to have a totally protective immune response.”
Researchers cannot say at this time how long the immune responses last. Pepper says protection against reinfection cannot be fully confirmed until there’s proof most people are truly able to fend off the virus after being exposed a second time.
The Times report notes that several studies found powerful immune responses in individuals who did not experience severe COVID-19 symptoms. There has been concern that mild cases could be less memorable to the immune system.
“This is very promising,” Smita Iyer, an immunologist at the University of California, Davis who is studying immune responses to the coronavirus but was not involved in the new studies, told the Times. “This calls for some optimism about herd immunity, and potentially a vaccine.”
Since the coronavirus pandemic began, there have been reports from around the world about recovered COVID-19 patients seemingly becoming reinfected with the coronavirus. But scientists have maintained coronavirus reinfection is unlikely and evidence of reinfection has been ambiguous.
Researchers in South Korea said in May that reports of reinfection were actually due to testing errors.
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