Coronavirus immunity short-lived if you had mild or no symptoms, study finds
- Cells responsible for lasting ability to fight the virus were not found in those patients, Chinese scientists say
- Absence of the cells casts doubt on patients’ ability to produce the complete immune response needed for a vaccine to work
A research team led by Dr Ye Lilin with the Institute of Immunology of Army Medical University in Chongqing found that only patients recovering from severe or moderate conditions had memory immune cells targeting the Sars-CoV-2 virus.
About 80 per cent of people who have tested positive had mild or no symptoms, according to some estimates. Whether they could become infected again is now one of the biggest concerns in the research community, with a bigger, deadlier wave feared to be possible in the coming northern hemisphere autumn.
The new discovery “will lay the foundation for rationally designing effective vaccines”, said Ye and colleagues in a non-peer-reviewed paper posted on medrxiv.org on Monday.
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Russia approves ‘world’s first’ Covid-19 vaccine, President Vladimir Putin says
More than 400 vaccines have been developed and are undergoing clinical trials around the globe, according to a recent survey.