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The headlines, all of a sudden, are everywhere. UK study showed antibodies to the coronavirus decline so we& #39;re all doomed. No immunity, no vaccines, no herd immunity.
People, we have enough real things to worry about. Do not worry about this. 1/x https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/27/health/coronavirus-antibodies-studies.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/2...
People, we have enough real things to worry about. Do not worry about this. 1/x https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/27/health/coronavirus-antibodies-studies.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/2...
First of all, antibody levels are *supposed* to drop after the infection clears. Imagine if they didn& #39;t: Your blood would be a sludge of every type of antibody to every pathogen you& #39;ve ever encountered. Hence my surprise yesterday at this paper 2/x https://twitter.com/apoorva_nyc/status/1321078975033151489">https://twitter.com/apoorva_n...
In the British study, in 27% of people who were positive at first, they dropped below detection limit. But the test has 84% sensitivity, and we know not everyone makes really high levels of antibodies after coronavirus infection (although nearly everyone makes some) 3/x
In other words, it& #39;s not really a surprise that some people& #39;s levels drop too low to be detected. But that does not mean that
a) they have none at all
b) they don& #39;t have memory B cells that can& #39;t make more as needed
c) they don& #39;t have T helper and T killer cells. 4/x
a) they have none at all
b) they don& #39;t have memory B cells that can& #39;t make more as needed
c) they don& #39;t have T helper and T killer cells. 4/x
Also, and this is an important point, this study is looking at seroprevalence at a population level, not at an individual level. Among individuals, studies from Portugal, Iceland and NYC have now shown stable levels for months. (Links in the article) 5/x
If somehow the immune response is still flimsy, despite all these caveats, that may still be enough. In monkey studies a little bit of immunity went a long way toward blunting serious illness, if not preventing infection altogether. 6/x
None of this means anything for vaccines. We know vaccines can be tweaked to elicit immune responses much stronger than from natural infection. We& #39;ll know for sure when vaccine trials are complete, but for now, there is no reason to worry--at least not about this study. 7/x
Don& #39;t just take my word for it. The article explains in detail the biological explanations for why you shouldn& #39;t worry. Please read it and rest easy. 8/x
Thanks to @profshanecrotty @Anto_Berto @SCOTTeHENSLEY Paul Elliott at @imperialcollege https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/27/health/coronavirus-antibodies-studies.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/2...
Thanks to @profshanecrotty @Anto_Berto @SCOTTeHENSLEY Paul Elliott at @imperialcollege https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/27/health/coronavirus-antibodies-studies.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/2...
Gah, I somehow ended up with 4 white men in this piece, despite also reaching out to multiple women. I did better in this other piece that pubbed today, and will try again. Tomorrow& #39;s another day? https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/27/health/covid-antibodies-autoimmunity.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/2...
