ABOVE: A panorama of downtown Reykjavik in Iceland. © ISTOCK.COM, ULTIMA_GAINA
A study of COVID-19 patients in Iceland represents the largest effort yet to assess the body’s immunological response to infection by SARS-CoV-2. Antibodies generated to combat infection peaked in the two months following a positive diagnosis before plateauing for a further two months in more than 90 percent of recovered patients, the authors report.
The findings, published September 1 in the New England Journal of Medicine, partially contradict previous reports of antibodies sharply declining following recovery. The authors witnessed that decline as well, but it was supplanted by a secondary, more stable wave of antibodies. If these antibodies remain protective over time, that would have positive implications for vaccine development and immunity to reinfection.
Two experts who weren’t involved in the study described the behavior of antibodies over time in an accompanying editorial. “The first wave [of antibodies] is ...
