Coronavirus Antibodies Disappear Quickly in People with Mild Illness, But Continue to Offer Protection

A new study has found that coronavirus antibodies decline sharply in the first three months after mild cases of COVID-19, raising concerns over antibody-based “immunity passports,” the possibility of herd immunity and reliability of antibody tests.

In the study conducted by the University of California (Los Angeles, CA, USA), the researchers studied 20 women and 14 men who had recovered from mild cases of COVID-19. Antibody tests were conducted at an average of 36 days and 82 days after the initial symptoms of infection. The researchers found that in people with mild cases of COVID-19, antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 dropped sharply over the first three months after infection, decreasing by roughly half every 36 days. If sustained at that rate, the antibodies would disappear within about a year. Previous reports have suggested that antibodies against the novel coronavirus are short-lived, but the rate at which they decrease has not been carefully defined. This is the first study to carefully estimate the rate at which the antibodies disappear.

These findings raise concerns about antibody-based “immunity passports,” the potential for herd immunity and the reliability of antibody tests for estimating past infections. In addition, the findings may have implications for the durability of antibody-based vaccines.

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