Antibodies Can Get Boosted Up To 20 Months By Covid Infection

The world is fully affected by Covid and the numbers are increasing with new variants causing more infection than any other variant. Vaccines have been administered worldwide and now vaccinations with additional doses have been going on. However, we are vaccinated and there is still a chance of infection. People who got vaccinated also got infection again for the second time and it protected people from being hospitalized and high-risk infection.

Antibodies Can Get Boosted Up To 20 Months By Covid Infection

Researchers have been discovering the vaccine’s effectiveness against new variants and how it is fading after months of vaccination. So, they are advising people to get the third dose of vaccine to boost their vaccine effectiveness, and immunocompromised people are vaccinated with the fourth dose. The vaccination is mainly to trigger the immune response in the body.

Antibodies are naturally available in our bodies to protect against infection. A study found that antibodies do develop after Covid infection, but there is no evidence that how many are needed for protection and people can easily get infected for a second time even if they have natural Covid antibodies. Researchers found that everyone has antibodies after infection that could last for a long time. There is no evidence that it protects against infection for the second time.

They also feel that the study about natural immunity should also be included in the study of vaccine immunity. A study also states that antibodies shrink over time and make you vulnerable to infection. There is no guarantee that we are protected if we have natural antibodies. There is evidence of the level of antibodies we need to be protected against reinfection, though it lasts for months. Severe infection can produce more antibodies in the body and it develops cell-mediated immunity.

But it is very much necessary to get vaccinated because the antibodies and immunity we get from the vaccine are different from natural immunity. It is essential to have both types of immunity to protect against severe infection. Protecting ourselves from Covid infection is necessary now with a new variant in the picture. So, get vaccinated with booster shots, wear masks, sanitize, practice social distancing and isolate yourself if you get an infection. Although vaccinating is essential, practicing all the Covid protection measures is essential to safeguard ourselves from infection.

Key Background

The immune system is complex in the body, and understanding its function is more difficult. Antibodies in the immune system are proteins that protect us against all kinds of infection when it comes to the future. Antibodies are produced when we get infected with viruses, bacteria, or any other microbes and they protect against the disease. Next time, if you get infected with the same disease for the second time, it will protect you from getting severely infected. It is like when we are infected for the first time that is foreign to us and we are not able to predict the level of protection against it.

But when it comes to the second time, we are familiar with the infection and have gained experience from the first time on how to protect the body from infection. However, it differs from person to person and also from different factors. Antibodies might dwindle after a long time and their level might decrease from the effective level of protection, making you more susceptible to infection.

The consoling part here is that even if the antibodies diminish over time, there can be cells that still identify the virus and provide quick protection against infection. At this point, we can get vaccinated, which produces antibodies in the body, producing T cells that bind to the spikes of the protein in the virus and kill them. This is why immunocompromised people should get vaccinated with booster shots of the vaccine because the level of antibodies is lower in these people than in others. So, the vaccine can produce enough antibodies in their body to fight against infection.