It’s not at all clear yet when the need for social isolation will end and life will return to normal. For many people, two questions are top of mind. What does it take to be immune to the coronavirus and how would you know if you are immune? Andrew Joseph reports for Stat News on what we know about immunity.
If you have tested positive for the virus or have had the symptoms, you are likely to have the Covid-19 antibodies. And, because at least some people have Covid-19 without experiencing any symptoms, even if you have had no symptoms, you might have the antibodies.
A number of tests are being developed that can determine whether you have Covid-19 antibodies. Unfortunately, they are not 100 percent accurate. What’s worse is that many experts believe that the antibody test could show that you have the antibodies and you could still contract the virus again. To repeat, the antibody test cannot show with complete certainty that people are immune and cannot be reinfected.
Right now, top scientists cannot say for sure that having the virus or having the antibodies protects you against reinfection. Most likely you will be protected against reinfection if you’ve had the virus because your body develops antibodies to fight off the virus; the problem is that those antibodies might not be strong enough to ward off a more powerful strain of the virus.
Some experts believe that even if you have the antibodies and are not reinfected, you could still spread the virus to others. Yes, just because you’ve had Covid-19 and have the antibodies does not mean that you cannot spread the virus at some later date.
To complicate matters further, even if the antibodies protect you against getting the virus again, no one knows how long that protection will last. In the case of other coronaviruses, the antibodies have offered people some protection against reinfection for at least a year. For Covid-19, scientists still don’t know what level of antibodies is needed for longer or better protection.
Some evidence suggests that if you had a mild case or were asymptomatic, you might have only a low level of antibodies making you more susceptible to reinfection. Other evidence suggests that some people develop lower levels of antibodies than other people, increasing their likelihood of reinfection. And, still other evidence indicates that some people have immune cells, separate and apart from antibodies, that could protect them from reinfection even if they don’t have antibodies.
For all these reasons, many experts believe that President Trump’s plan to reopen the country in states that are seeing a reduced number of Covid-19 cases is foolhardy. Similarly, the idea that some people could have “immunity passports” sounds good in theory, but could be a big mistake. While we wait, here are some tips for boosting your immune system.
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