Coronavirus antibodies less effective over time: Research

DAVENPORT: Researchers have stated that those who have recovered from COVID-19 develop antibodies, but they may only last for a certain period of time.

At the Mississippi Valley, Regional Blood Center Dr. Louis Katz said, “They’re designed to stick to the bug and make it easier for white cells in the immune system to see it and kill it,” Dr. Katz explains. “It’s the immune system’s attempt to get rid of it,” he added.

“Then we have some sense that what we are sending to the hospitals actually has what we think it has,” says Dr. Katz. “The sickest patients have the highest antibody count; that’s why the blood center asks hospitals to refer their patients to donate,” he asserted.

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“These are patients that were very ill and they had to go through that battle,” explains Amanda Hess, Director of Donor and Public Relations for the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center for the central Illinois community.

“The hospitals know that they were sick, they know their test results, and it makes it very very simple,” says Dr. Katz. However, how long do the disease-fighting proteins last?  Dr. Katz says the antibodies start coasting down two to three months after infection depending on how sick an individual is it all depends on the person.