People who have already been infected with the coronavirus and who are themselves protected by antibodies could still carry the virus and infect others, according to a study in England.
The study, called “Assessment of Immunity and Reinfection of SARS-COV-2” (SIREN) and conducted between June 18 and November 24, 2020, also found that while reinfection is possible, it appears to be rare, at least for the first five months. after getting sick.
The study was first published at the end of last week. It was written in the peer-reviewed journal BMJ and the scientific journal NatureOf the study participants who had previously fallen ill (around 6,600), only 44 (less than 1%) were re-infected with the virus. In other words, the immune response from a first infection reduced the risk of contracting the virus again by 83%.
Of the approximately 14,000 people who had not been previously infected in the study, 318 tested positive for the virus (2.3%).
Researchers do not know how long the protection lasts beyond the duration of the study.
In addition, those who were re-infected usually did not suffer from serious illness. Only about 30% of those potentially re-infected reported symptoms, compared to 78% of those who contracted the virus for the first time.
cnxps.cmd.push (function () {cnxps ({playerId: ’36af7c51-0caf-4741-9824-2c941fc6c17b’}). render (‘4c4d856e0e6f4e3d808bbc1715e132f6’);});
But, as noted, sometimes those who recovered and were subsequently re-infected had a high viral load, which meant that there was still a high chance they would pass the virus on to others.
Last week, at a ceremony to mark the vaccination of Israel’s two millionth citizen, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had held several talks with the Minister of Health and other professionals to carry out the green passport plan as soon as possible. as possible, “which will allow us to begin to bring life back to normal.” But he said, “Even when we do, we will have to continue to wear masks for the younger population and those who are not vaccinated.” The study was not designed to provide insight into the effects of the vaccine. Additionally, the researchers noted that the goal was not to assess whether symptoms were better or worse during the second infection, and this question requires further evaluation. The subjects were mostly young, middle-aged women who, anyway, tend to have less severe symptoms than older people.
Finally, the study was carried out mainly before the British change, which could modify the dynamics of its results. Some have suggested that the existence of mutations will reduce the effectiveness of the immune response, but more research is needed. This is not the first published study on reinfection. A separate study published in November, also in England, found that people with the virus are very unlikely to contract it again for at least six months after the first infection.
