A new peer-reviewed study has confirmed what several researchers and even some health professionals have been saying all along: Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus retain the antibodies to continue to fight it – often for many months following their initial infection.
Just The News reports the European Journal of Immunology accepted a study on Sept. 24 from scientists at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, who studied 1,292 subjects eight months after infection for the presence of antibodies.
The researchers found that 96% of their test subjects were still carrying antibodies and 66% still had the nucleoprotein IgG antibody. The Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody helps your immune system remember how to fight infections like the COVID-19 virus.
But the Finnish scientists’ research went even further. They randomly selected 367 subjects from the original study group who were not vaccinated for a year following their infection. The scientists found that 89% of subjects still had neutralizing antibodies, and 36% with the IgG antibody, according to Just The News.
Those subjects who had a severe COVID-19 infection had higher antibody levels, anywhere from two to seven times as many antibodies as those with mild infections at least 13 months after contracting the disease, the study noted.
Even though the antibodies provided long-lasting protection against the COVID virus, their ability to fight the Alpha, Beta, and Delta variants diminished over a period of several months. However, the neutralizing antibodies “were only slightly reduced” in the Alpha variant and “considerably declined” in the Beta variant. But “over 80% of the subjects who had recovered from severe” COVID-19 infection still had neutralizing antibodies against the Delta variant a year after being infected, the study pointed out.
Natural immunity to the COVID-19 virus has been touted by some health professionals throughout the pandemic.
Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. told CBN News in September that in addition to taking the vaccine, another way to achieve immunity is through natural means.
“I think we need to recognize that people who have immunity that’s acquired through infection, that immunity is durable, and it appears it is quite robust,” he said. “I think the question from a clinical standpoint is how long it’s going to last.”
As CBN News reported in August, a George Mason University (GMU) law professor who sued the school over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate was ultimately granted a medical exemption by the school.
Todd Zywicki, the law professor at the Fairfax, Virginia, school said he had COVID-19 and defeated it, therefore his natural immunity, he argued, should prevent him from having to get the vaccination.
According to University Business, Zywicki claimed the vaccine mandate enforced by the school was excessive since he already had natural immunity through antibodies he acquired after he successfully recovered from the virus. His attorneys revealed Zywicki took six tests to prove those antibodies were still active in his immune system.
Dr. Marty Makary, a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, told CBN News in late June that medical experts got it wrong when they dismissed natural immunity to the virus.
“It’s one of the biggest failures of our medical establishment to dismiss natural immunity,” he told CBN News, pointing to two new studies that show its efficacy. “It works. It’s durable. You may not need the vaccine and it’s probably long-lasting. It’s probably life-long.”
In a U.S. News & World Report op-ed published later in August, Makary said an Israeli study showed natural immunity is 6.7 times greater than for vaccinated people.
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