after a year, one in three infected no longer has antibodies (among the unvaccinated) – breaking latest news

One in three of those who caught Covid in Catalonia without being vaccinated, one year after infection they had no more antibodies.

I study

This is shown by a study published in BMC Medicine conducted by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health that tested 1,076 people between the ages of 43 and 72 (and 59.1% were women). At the time of collection of the blood sample for analysis of the presence of antibodies (26 May-21 July 2021), 130 (12.1%) participants were unvaccinated, 267 (24.8%) were partially vaccinated and 679 ( 63.1%) were fully vaccinated according to the guidelines in force at the time, which included only two doses of the vaccine.

Lower levels in the elderly and smokers

The results yielded three main conclusions: First, in 36% of infected but unvaccinated people, the antibodies were no longer detectable nearly a year after infectionparticularly in people over 60 years and in smokers.
Second, vaccination induced significantly higher antibody levels in people who had had a previous infection, confirming the validity of the so-called hybrid immune, given by disease plus vaccination. Hybrid immunity has always been believed to be stronger than immunity conferred by vaccination alone, a fact confirmed in analyzes of subsequent periods of the pandemic.
Third, the researchers identified some factors that boosted (or not) the antibody levels: the type of vaccine (Moderna’s generated the highest antibody levels); let (people over the age of 60 had lower antibody levels) e some pathologies (mental or cardiovascular diseases caused a lower antibody response).
Another interesting fact, among the vaccinated only 2.1% had no antibodies at the time of the test and about 1% had had a reinfection. However – the authors warn – this study was conducted before the Omicron variant became dominant.

Infection is not a shield

Studies on vaccine hesitation show that having already had Covid one of the reasons for not getting vaccinated

: this study could change someone’s mind. The infection, in fact, does not cause a lasting shield against Covid for everyone, especially if you are elderly, smokers or have other concomitant diseases.