Study: COVID-19 Survivors May Have 8 Months of Immunity, Australian Research Suggests

The researchers of this study, published on December 22, 2020, estimate that certain lymphocytes would be able to trigger the production of antibodies again in case of re-exposure to the virus. The Australian study was carried out on the basis of 36 samples taken from 25 patients with Covid-19, who were classified into three levels: six had a severe form of the disease requiring respiratory assistance, while three had a moderate form requiring hospitalization. As for the other 16, they all had a mild form.

Continuing their explanations, the scientists say they have compared these samples, taken from these patients on the 4th and 242nd days after the onset of symptoms, with samples from 36 healthy patients, into which the virus was then inserted to ensure with certainty the response (or not) of the organism to a virus infection. "In each of the samples, antibodies against Covid-19 were indeed produced," confirm the authors of the study.

Moreover, this conclusion was also confirmed by another study carried out by American researchers from the La Jolla Institute of Immunology (California). For the researchers, this new study, also published last December, looked at the immune response of 188 patients who had contracted Covid-19, including 43 samples from people infected for more than six months.

"For the vast majority of the cohort, or 95% of former patients, the data shows that at least three components of immune memory are present five to eight months after the onset of symptoms," it is pointed out. Shane Crotty, co-author of the study, notes that former patients can benefit from "protective immunity, at least against a severe form of the disease for eight months and probably well beyond."