With coronavirus antibodies fading fast, vaccine hopes fade, too

[bluewater]

Disturbing new revelations that permanent immunity to the coronavirus may not be possible have jeopardized vaccine development and reinforced a decision by scientists at UCSF and affiliated laboratories to focus exclusively on treatments.

Several recent studies conducted around the world indicate that the human body does not retain the antibodies that build up during infections, meaning there may be no lasting immunity to COVID-19 after people recover.

Strong antibodies are also crucial in the development of vaccines. So molecular biologists fear the only way left to control the disease may be to treat the symptoms after people are infected to prevent the most debilitating effects, including inflammation, blood clots and death.

“I just don’t see a vaccine coming anytime soon,” said Nevan Krogan, a molecular biologist and director of UCSF’s Quantitative Biosciences Institute, which works in partnership with 100 research laboratories. “People do have antibodies, but the antibodies are waning quickly.” And if antibodies diminish, “then there is a good chance the immunity from a vaccine would wane too.”

The latest bad news came from scientists at King’s College of London, whose study of 90 COVID-19 patients in the United Kingdom found antibody levels peaked three weeks after the onset of symptoms and then dramatically declined. Potent antibodies were found in 60% of the patients, according to the study, but only 17% retained the same potency three months later. In some cases, the antibodies disappeared completely, said the study which was published as a preprint Saturday, meaning it has not yet been peer-reviewed.

The report is the latest in a growing chain of evidence that immunity to COVID-19 is short-lived.
...

There is still hope that the remaining antibodies will bestow some immunity, but infectious disease specialists around the world were surprised and discouraged by the rapid reduction observed in the studies. If the numbers continue dropping after three months, it could mean people will be susceptible to infection by the coronavirus year after year.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/With-coronavirus-antibodies-fading-fast-focus-15414533.php


This is not good news.

[EllieBC]

1. Nothing like a little "might as well call it a day" bad news.

I thought memory cells and T cells were very important?

And also if this is the truth then we are all reduced to just surviving as opposed to living until we die?

[Mike 03]

8. Yes. Helper T cells. It's not a lost cause, but it puts more responsibility

on us to stay healthy, it seems. Or maybe there is some way to boost the CD4 cells artificially.

[roamer65]

2. Either monoclonal antibody therapy or vaccinations every 3-4 months.

[EllieBC]

3. That would be impossible.

There’s no way to get everyone a shot every 3-4 months. Even where I am the infrastructure doesn’t exist.

[nolabear]

4. People take insulin every day.

Might not be easy but I don’t think it’s impossible.

[EllieBC]

5. Well if they self administered.

But then you’re relying on compliance. Medication compliance is notoriously mid to low with many patients who have all sorts of illnesses.

[VMA131Marine]

6. It's not impossible

And we could certainly target states with large outbreaks with the vaccine.

[drray23]

10. very few things are impossible.

We put a man on the moon, we could do something like this. It would require leadership and significant resources put towards it. Obviously, its not something that the current administration will be able to do. I am hoping a Biden administration will have its stuff together and I am sure they already have various plans in store for situations just like this. One of the main bottleneck is producing enough doses. It used to be that most (all) vaccines had to be made by cultivating them in embryonated eggs. That put a limit to how many you could produce.

New techniques are now available to dispense with that, in particular recombinant RNA vaccines (one of those is in the final stages of testing for COVID) does not require eggs and can be produced faster.

As far as the distribution , we already have the infrastructure for flu vaccines (doctor's offices, nurse practices, drugstores, etc..) . It could be leveraged for an eventual COVID vaccine.

[roamer65]

16. If it's oral, then it could be.

Drive thru administration.

[NickB79]

17. If it were administered as a nasal spray and is shelf-stable

It could be done.

[Hoyt]

7. Early on, the so-called "experts" said treatments were easier to develop than vax.

[Mike 03]

9. You're right, they did.

I wonder if human beings could with time evolve with this virus so that in a few years, getting COVID-19 would be like getting the common cold.

[Hoyt]

11. Would be nice if we could treat it with CoviQuil and Tylenol, someday.

[LisaL]

13. For many people, covid acts as a common cold.

But if you can get infected over and over again, it might lead to getting worse symptoms each time.

[LisaL]

14. Well, there is remdesivir.

But there is not enough of it. And it's only approved for most serious cases so far.

[Blue_true]

18. Also, for that to have an impact, people must become sick first.

And get hospitalized.

[uponit7771]

12. Greeeeat, this goes along with the 60,000 person test from Spain that showed antibodies don't last

[Quixote1818]

15. They are finding it's the T-cells that are more important than antibodies for covid

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200716101536.htm

https://www.firstpost.com/health/forget-antibodies-scientists-look-towards-t-cells-in-the-immune-system-to-fight-coronavirus-infection-8589881.html