From: slider@atashram.com

There is currently no evidence to support the belief that people who have recovered from coronavirus (COVID-19) are immune to the virus and may not
catch it again, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said. The United Kingdom’s Daily Mirror quoted senior WHO epidemiologists as warning that despite the hopes governments across the world have piled on antibody
tests, there is no proof those who have been infected cannot be infected
again.

https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2020/04/19/who-no-evidence-people-that-survived-covid-19-cant-be-reinfected/

Daily Mirror reported that the British government had bought 3.5 million serology test kits, which measure levels of antibodies in blood plasma,
even though they were not definitive of growing levels of herd immunity.

“Many tests being developed are pin prick blood tests similar to widely
used instant HIV tests and measure for raised levels of the antibodies the
body uses to fight the virus,” the Mail reported.

But speaking at a press conference in Geneva, an American infectious
disease epidemiologist, who works for WHO, Dr Maria van Kerkhove, said, “There are a lot of countries that are suggesting using rapid diagnostic serological tests to be able to capture what they think will be a measure
of immunity.

“Right now, we have no evidence that the use of a serological test can
show that an individual has immunity or is protected from reinfection.”

Kerkhove added, “These antibody tests will be able to measure that level
of seroprevalence – that level of antibodies. But that does not mean that somebody with antibodies means that they are immune.”

She said it was “a good thing” that so many tests were being developed,
but cautioned, “We need to ensure that they are validated so that we know what they say they attempt to measure they are actually measuring.”

Kerkhove’s colleague, Dr Michael Ryan, said the antibody tests also raised ethical questions.

“There are serious ethical issues around the use of such an approach and
we need to address it very carefully, we also need to look at the length
of protection that antibodies might give,” Ryan said.
“You might have someone who believes they are seropositive (have been infected) and protected in a situation where they may be exposed and, in
fact, they are susceptible to the disease.”

Other experts agreed with them. Associate Professor in Cellular
Microbiology, University of Reading, Dr Simon Clarke, said, “I agree with
Dr Maria van Kerkhove from the WHO. The overconfident assertion by some
that having antibodies to the coronavirus causing COVID-19 gives immunity,
has been made without any evidence and by some people who should know
better. It is reasonable to assume that, as someone recovers from the infection, the immunity they generate will persist for some time, maybe
weeks, months or years, but nobody actually knows. We simply don’t yet
know what would make someone immune to COVID-19 or whether long-term
immunity is even possible.”

Visiting Professor in Medical Virology, Imperial College London, Professor Richard Tedder, said, “When someone has been infected with the COVID-19 virus, there is an immunological response to the virus, which includes the production of antibody. It is correct to say that we are not certain that
the presence of this recovery antibody will necessarily protect the person against re-infection. There are a number of reasons for this uncertainty.

“Firstly, it has proved very difficult to produce an antibody test which
is both sensitive enough to detect antibody in all recovered patients and
of sufficient accuracy not to generate false-positive results. Globally
there has been an immense amount of work in developing a range of antibody tests some of which are excellent and some of which are not. In addition,
the level of the antibody in the recovered person varies quite widely with
a number of studies showing that mild infections are associated with a
lower antibody response in recovery.

“Secondly, there are reports of re-infection, but whether these instances
are re-infections as such or the persistence of shedding of the virus at
low level in the recovery period remains to be defined.”

American television outlet, CNN, also reported a similar finding. It said, “In South Korea, health officials are trying to solve a mystery: why 163 people who recovered from coronavirus have retested positive, according to
the Korea Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).”

According to CNN, the same has been recorded in China, where some
coronavirus patients tested positive after seeming to recover, although
there are no official figures. While experts are still studying the reason
for this, a Chinese top respiratory expert, Zhong Nanshan, had during a
press conference last week said a recovered person could test positive
because fragments of the disease remained in their body.

### - round and around she goes but where we'll end up nobody knows?

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