Study: COVID-19 patients produce 'high-quality' antibodies up to 7 months after recovery

[PeteS in CA]

Study: COVID-19 patients produce 'high-quality' antibodies up to 7 months after recovery

https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2020/10/13/Study-COVID-19-patients-produce-high-quality-antibodies-up-to-7-months-after-recovery/9741602619576/

Oct. 13 (UPI) -- People sickened with COVID-19 produce "high-quality" antibodies against the virus five to seven months after they become infected, according to an analysis published Tuesday by the journal Immunity.

The findings suggest that those infected with the new coronavirus potentially can develop long-lasting immunity to it, researchers from the University of Arizona said.
...
For this study, the researchers performed antibody testing on 5,882 volunteers in Arizona starting April 30.

Most tests look for antibodies at S1, which is where the so-called "spike" protein of the new coronavirus binds to a protein receptor to infect cells, the researchers said.

However, the University of Arizona test uses two different parts of the virus -- S1 and S2 -- to search for antibodies, and they must be present in both locations for the test to be deemed positive, they said.

My emphasis, of two key points: testing began April 30, which is the source of the "up to 7 months" (given that the nCov-19 virus only came to the US in late December or in January, April was probably the right timing, if only because recovered patients would be relatively few before then); the U of A test is more stringent than more commonly done testing, meaning its results could understate the degree of the long-lasting immunity.

[Smokin Joe]

Well, another sacred cow gets ground into burger.

Seems the yarn a while back was that the antibodies wouldn't last and that everyone would have to be vaccinated....

[Hoodat]

Aren't vaccines supposed to generate antibodies?  It amazes me how people discount the efficacy of immunity from actually having the disease, yet tout vaccines as a cure-all.

[Smokin Joe]

Aren't vaccines supposed to generate antibodies?  It amazes me how people discount the efficacy of immunity from actually having the disease, yet tout vaccines as a cure-all.

Exactly.

[PeteS in CA]

Why should this be an either-or proposition? A properly tested and approved vaccine will have a vastly lower death and permanent damage rates than having the disease. As for "discounting the efficacy of immunity from actually having the disease", deriving a convalescent plasma treatment from the plasma of people who have recovered, as has been done, is a strange way of "discounting" immunity derived from having and recovering from the Covid-19.