Antibody Generation Rate 78% Up to 6 Months After COVID-19 Infection... Decreases After 9 Months

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] A study has found that about 78 out of 100 people maintain natural immunity up to six months after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

On the 11th, Kwon Jun-wook, the 2nd Deputy Head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters, announced at the regular briefing of the COVID-19 Central Disease Control Headquarters that a survey was conducted on 111 individuals who donated plasma two to three times or more for the development of plasma therapy. The survey investigated the production and duration of neutralizing antibodies following COVID-19 infection, yielding these results.

Deputy Head Kwon said, "Among the plasma donors, mainly Shincheonji church members, the survey of 111 people showed that the neutralizing antibody production rate was 78% on average three months after diagnosis, and it remained 78% even after six months. However, at the nine-month point, the neutralizing antibody production rate slightly decreased to 67%."

The plasma therapy related to this study is made by concentrating neutralizing antibodies found in the plasma of recovered patients' blood. Neutralizing antibodies are antibodies that can neutralize the coronavirus.

Deputy Head Kwon stated, "This survey briefly examined the level and duration of natural immunity obtained after COVID-19 diagnosis. In the future, the health authorities will use this to compare and study the duration of artificially generated immunity, that is, neutralizing antibodies produced through vaccination."

Regarding plasma therapy, 41 cases have been approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for use beyond clinical trial purposes.

Including individual and group plasma collections, a total of 6,645 people have registered as plasma donors so far, and plasma collection has been completed for 4,205 of them.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.