Coronavirus (COVID-19) Discussion Thread

[haxxiy]

I wouldn't be too concerned about the results of antibody tests. Not all kinds of antibodies lead to detectable titers. Plasmocytes also often have a lifespan of a few days to a few weeks, and just a few of them tend to linger for much longer than this. Evolutionary speaking, it doesn't make sense to waste energy developing immediate defenses to a disease that is no longer present in the organism. But celullar immune response mediated by memory T cell, which doesn't register in antibody titers, lasts for decades, if not indefinitely.

Of course, while this is faster than the innate response, it would still be slower than having the antibodies themselves around. This is why you can get the flu or common cold multiple times but the infection isn't as severe as it would be to someone who has never had contact with these pathogens to begin with. Regardless, even 40 - 52 weeks of immunity, as it is for the endemic, mild coronaviruses, should suffice for a vaccine to be available.