Mild COVID-19 patients also generate protective antibodies

The pandemic has confronted us with several questions and many unanswered questions. Among the most common, one is our degree of protection against SARS-CoV-2. Scientific evidence explains that this protection is achieved through antibodies generated by our body, either because of the vaccination or because of the disease.

New studies have shown that protective proteins against the virus are also generated even though a mild condition has occurred. Researchers at the University of Michigan School of Medicine in the United States concluded that Most patients with mild COVID-19 infections produce antibodies that persist and protect them from reinfection for up to six months.

Researchers analyzed 130 people with PCR-confirmed COVID-19 disease three to six months after the initial infection. Only 3 of the patients were hospitalized, while the rest were treated as outpatients and have had a mild infection, with symptoms such as headache, chills, and loss of taste or smell. The results, published in Microbiology spectrum, found that about 90% of participants generated core and spike antibody responses, and all but one had persistent antibody levels during follow-up.

Charles Schuler, lead author of the study and professor of allergy and immunology at the Michigan School of Medicine, noted that “there was a lot of concern about whether only people with severe COVID-19 generated strong antibody responses to the disease. ‘infection. We show that people with mild COVID-19 episodes did very well after infection, produced antibodies and kept them”.

During the observation period, none of the patients who produced antibodies were re-infected. Additionally, scientists determined that the ability of antibodies to neutralize COVID-19 did not differ significantly from the first exam, which took place three months after infection, to the second visit at six months.

All 130 study participants were healthcare workers or high-risk SARS-CoV-2 patients. Most of the subjects participated in the previous study by the same research team, which found that COVID antibody tests are effective in predicting previous infection.

According to the researchers, “While some studies have suggested that COVID-19 antibodies decrease over time, these results provide strong prospective evidence of long-term immunity for those who elicit an immune response to mild infection. To our knowledge, this is the first prospective study to demonstrate such a reduction in the risk of clinical reinfection in this specific type of population, ”said James Baker, author of the report and director of the Center for Food Allergies at Michigan Medicine.

The research team now tests samples from this group of patients taken up to one year after infection to further assess antibody responses. While, concluded that people with COVID-19 can delay vaccination for 90 days after the infection has ceased.

Diet and lifestyle are also essential for strengthening the immune system, in the words of Dr. Alberto Cormillot: “The defense system produces more antibodies with age, gender and also lifestyle. : i.e. diet, physical activity and rest, stress management and management of negative emotions and time management, i.e. living with balance. From a food point of view, It must be a combination of foods, it must not be a single food that stimulates the defenses. You need animal protein, meat and fish protein, egg protein and cheese, which are of excellent quality, unless you are a vegetarian and choose another source of protein ”.

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