Since the first cases of COVID-19 were detected, consistent efforts are being made to develop a vaccine and identify a valid general treatment, but also to fully understand how the SARS-CoV-2 virus works and how the human body responds to it. While scientists are working hard on several fronts, the immunity developed by patients currently remains an important method to measure recovery and resistance to the virus, according to Business-Review.eu.
In August, REGINA MARIA Health Network launched a study to investigate the immune response of patients infected with the new coronavirus, by applying international information and contextualizing it locally.
The body’s “memory” is a key element of the infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as is the case with patients’ immune responses in other diseases developed as a result of infection with various types of viruses. When we talk about immunity, we refer to the possibility of generating an immune response that protects us. This response may or may not be long long-lasting.
“Certain pathogens do not stimulate the production of antibodies and an episode of disease does not provide us with immunity against them. They trick the immune system not to detect them as foreign particles and eliminate them as our body is taught. An example of such a pathogen is the HIV virus, which disguises itself and manages to reach the inside of human cells. The new coronavirus invades the body though a mechanism that is not very well known and it must be further studied to see why some patients do not produce antibodies”, says Dr. Andreea Alexandru, Primary Laboratory Physician and Medical Director at the REGINA MARIA Clinical Laboratories Division.
There are several questions about how the body currently behaves after the infection with the new coronavirus, how it works and how long we are protected from a second infection. Therefore, REGINA MARIA Health Network conducted a study between August and September 2020 to find out more about the impact of the virus on a person known to have been cured of the infection, by monitoring the immune response of patients affected by the virus.
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