The key points
- The methods of the study
- The results
Neutralizing antibodies against Sars-Cov-2 persist in patients for up to at least eight months after the diagnosis of Covid-19, regardless of the severity of the disease, the age of the patients or the presence of other diseases. Not only that, their early presence is essential to successfully fight the infection: those who fail to produce them within the first fifteen days of infection are at greater risk of developing severe forms of Covid-19.
These are the two main results of a research conducted by the Evolution and Viral Transmission Unit of the Irccs San Raffaele Hospital, directed by Gabriella Scarlatti, in collaboration with researchers from the San Raffaele Diabetes Research Institute directed by Lorenzo Piemonti, who have developed a particular test for antibodies exploiting the skills and techniques already used for the study of antibodies involved in the auto-immune response underlying type 1 diabetes.
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Researchers from the Center for Global Health and the Infectious Diseases Department of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (Iss), coordinated by Andrea Cara and Donatella Negri, exploiting the skills and techniques already used for the study of HIV vaccines, have worked closely with Gabriella Scarlatti’s group to develop a new method for the evaluation of neutralizing antibodies against Sars-Cov-2.
The study, published today in Nature Communications, comprehensively maps the evolution over time of the antibody response to Covid-19 and provides important indications both for the clinical management of the disease – through the recognition of patients at greater risk of severe forms – and for the epidemiological containment of the pandemic.
The methods of the study
The study was conducted following 162 Sars-Cov-2 positive patients over time, with symptoms of varying severity, who presented themselves to the emergency room of the San Raffaele Hospital during the first wave of the pandemic in Italy. The first blood samples were collected at the time of diagnosis and date back to March-April 2020, the last at the end of November 2020. The patient group is made up of 67% males, with an average age of 63 years. 57% suffered from a second disease in addition to Covid-19 at the time of diagnosis, hypertension (44%) and diabetes (24%) the most frequent.