(ANSA) – ROME, DEC 13 – Those who had Covid-19 during the first wave can be infected again by the Omicron variant: the ability of the antibodies developed after the infection to neutralize the new variant is in fact 8.4 times lower than to that found against the original virus. This is what emerges from a study coordinated by the National Institutes for Food and Drug Control (NIFDC) of Beijing and published in Emerging microbes & infection.
The study tested the ability of the serum of 28 patients who had been infected with the parent strain of SARS-CoV-2 to neutralize Omicron and other variants that have emerged in recent months. The loss of effectiveness against the new variant was found to be 8.4 times, that against the Delta of 1.6 times, against the variant Alpha (the old ‘English’) of 1.2 times, against the Beta (‘South African ‘) of 2.8, against the (‘ Brazilian ‘) Gamma of 1.6. While the neutralizing capacity against the Lambda and Mu variants was lower by 1.7 and 4.5 times, respectively.
The researchers warn that further studies are needed to fully understand the level of immune protection conferred by previous infections, for example in those who have encountered a variant of the coronavirus other than the original one that emerged in Wuhan. However, “this study tested the Omicron variant’s great immune evading capacity; this confirms the alarm around the world and has important implications for public health policy planning,” concluded the researchers. (HANDLE).
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