Months after recovering from mild cases of COVID-19, people still have immune cells which produce antibodies against the novel coronavirus, according to a study. The researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, US, noted that such cells could persist for a lifetime, churning out antibodies all the while. The study, published on Monday in the journal Nature, suggests that mild cases of COVID-19 leave those infected with lasting antibody protection and that repeated bouts of illness are likely to be uncommon. Last fall, there were reports that antibodies wane quickly after infection with the virus that causes COVID-19, and mainstream media interpreted that to mean that immunity was not long-lived, said senior author of the study Ali Ellebedy, an associate professor at Washington University School of Medicine.
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May 25, 2021
Months after recovery from mild COVID-19, when antibody levels in the blood have declined, immune cells in bone marrow remain ready to pump out new antibodies against the coronavirus, researchers reported on Monday in
Upon infection, short-lived immune cells are generated quickly to secrete an early wave of protective antibodies. As the immune cells die out, antibody levels decline.
But a pool of these immune cells, called long-lived plasma cells, is held in reserve after infection. Most of them migrate to the bone marrow, explained coauthor Ali Ellebedy of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. His team obtained bone marrow samples from 19 patients seven months after the onset of mild COVID-19.