WE often hear from the media that antibody levels fall quite quickly following an infection with SARS-CoV-2 (the official name for Covid-19), and therefore we may need to be vaccinated indefinitely. Indeed a study led by L Wu in 2007 which looked at patients who had been infected by the SARS-CoV-1 epidemic of 2003 says “SARS-specific antibodies were maintained for an average of two years”.
However, the media rarely mentions another element of our bodily defences: T cells. These may have a role of equal importance to antibodies in resolving Covid-19 infections, if not more important. A study (C Moberdacher, 2020) says “statistical associations found less of a role for antibodies than SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4 and CD8 T cells.”
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It’s too early to know how long antibody or T cell levels are maintained following a Covid-19 infection, however, another study (N Le Bert, 2020) says that patients who recovered from the SARS-CoV-1 epidemic of 2003 “possess long-lasting memory T cells that are reactive to the N protein of SARS-CoV-1 17 years after the outbreak.”
So-called experts on the TV need to start discussing T cells.
Geoff Moore
Alness, Highland
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