Scary stuff
The nightmare scenario for coronavirus is that there is no vaccine and no natural immunity. We're months away from finding out anything on a vaccine but a report today on immunity is worrisome.
Chinese and Texas researchers tested 23,000 Wuhan healthcare workers for antibodies of the disease that would help them fight off a new infection. Only 4% had them when they estimated that at least 25% could have contracted the disease.
"People are unlikely to produce long-lasting protective antibodies against this virus," the researchers concluded in a non-peer-reviewed paper posted on preprint website medRxiv.org on Tuesday.
The study showed the people with more-obvious and stronger symptoms tended to have antibodies. That suggests people who fought it off with mild symptoms may not have developed antibodies.
