The studies, which have yet to be peer-reviewed, uncovered that antibodies and immune cells capable of recognizing the virus were apparently present months after infections concluded. The findings could help to eliminate the previous concerns over whether the virus could trick the immune system into having a poor memory of prior infections, Fox reported.
While scientists have yet to forecast how long the immune responses will last, researchers who have been monitoring immune responses to the virus for months now, believe the recent findings are encouraging signs.
Having those defense mechanisms present means the body has a good chance of fending off the coronavirus if reinfected.
“This is very promising,” said Smita Iyer, an immunologist at the University of California. “This calls for some optimism about herd immunity, and potentially a vaccine.”
“This is exactly what you would hope for,” said Marion Pepper, an immunologist at the University of Washington and an author on another of the new studies, which is currently under review at the journal Nature. “All the pieces are there to have a totally protective immune response.”
Protection against reinfection cannot be fully confirmed until there is proof that most people who encounter the virus a second time are actually able to keep it at bay, Dr. Pepper said. But the findings could help quell recent concerns over the virus’s ability to dupe the immune system into amnesia, leaving people vulnerable to repeat bouts of disease.