Coronavirus: reinfection is unlikely | Nail…

People infected with coronavirus are unlikely to contract the disease again, at least in the next six months, according to a study published by the University of Oxford.

This large-scale research on immunity to possible further contagion of COVID-19 has been conducted in collaboration with Oxford University Hospitals, although it has not yet been independently reviewed.

Their results confirm what many healthcare professionals observe that more than 57 million people worldwide have been infected with the Sars Cov-2 virus, but cases of re-infection remain relatively few.

This is “very good news,” said Professor David Eyre, one of the authors of the research, who assured that one can “be sure that, at least in the short term, the majority of people contract COVID-19 don’t. they will contract again. “

The study was based on coronavirus tests routinely performed on 12,180 healthcare workers at Oxford University Hospitals over a 30-week period, AFP reported.

None of the 1,246 employees who carried the antibody developed symptomatic infection and only three, without symptoms, tested positive for the virus a second time. “We know from a previous study that antibody levels decrease over time, but this latest study shows that there is some immunity in those who have been infected,” he said.

However, these results contradict another British study published last October by Imperial College London and the Ipsos Mori Institute, according to which the immunity acquired by people recovered from coronavirus decreases “quite rapidly”, especially in patients. asymptomatic and could only last a few months.

Oxford researchers said they had not yet gathered enough data to make a judgment on what can happen six months after being infected with the coronavirus. However, the ultimate goal of their study is to verify the total duration of immunity.

At the same time, other research conducted at the University of St Andrews has shown that people with coronavirus are more likely to be highly infectious within the first week after symptoms appear.

According to the work, typically within five days of the onset of the first symptoms of the coronavirus, people are at increased risk of transmitting the virus, underscoring the importance of identifying and isolating cases early.

The study, published in the journal The Lancet microbe, was carried out by researchers at the University of St Andrews; Western General Hospital, Edinburgh; University Hospital, Wishaw; the University of Edinburgh; Cotugno Hospital, Naples; and the University of Glasgow, and focused primarily on hospitalized people infected with the coronavirus.

Muge Cevik of St Andrews University School of Medicine, lead author of the research, said that “this is the first systematic review and meta-analysis that has comprehensively examined and compared viral load and the spread of three human coronaviruses “. .

Cevik also cautioned against the importance of increasing public awareness of the range of symptoms related to the disease, including mild symptoms that can occur before or during infection, and those that are stronger, such as cough or fever, to allow immediate self-isolation treatment.