A recent study published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that antibodies may protect people who have had COVID-19 from being reinfected for at least six months.
The researchers analyzed 12,541 health professionals at Oxford University hospitals in the United Kingdom and were followed for up to 31 weeks.
In the study, the researchers investigated the incidence of COVID-19 infection by conducting polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests on health professionals with positive and negative tests, including symptomatic and asymptomatic cases.
The results of the study showed that 11,364 had no antibody levels and 1,265 had positive results, which also included 88 health professionals in whom seroconversion occurred during follow-up. A total of 223 negative anti-peak health professionals had a positive CRP test (1.09 per 10,000 days at risk), up to 100 during screening were considered asymptomatic and 123 had symptoms, the study concluded.
The researchers said that individuals who had anti-peak antibodies had no symptomatic infections.