But there’s a caveat: The team reveals that only some of these antibodies have the ability to neutralize the coronavirus. The immunological study looked at 149 people and found that while the antibodies they produced are able to latch onto the virus, only a few are capable of blocking it from infecting cells.
A total of 149 people who recovered from COVID-19 visited the Rockefeller Hospital to donate plasma, the part of blood that contains antibodies, as well as the immune B cells that produce them. Those who donated exhibited symptoms nearly 40 days before they donated plasma and had symptoms that lasted for an average of 12 days.
The researchers tested the neutralizing ability of the plasma samples using an antibody test that they developed. It involved mixing a pseudo version of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the pathogen behind COVID-19, with the plasma samples and testing whether it can still infect human cells in vitro.
The team discovered that the neutralizing activity of a third of the plasma samples was below detectable levels. They interpreted this to mean that the owners of these samples were able to resolve the infection quickly, even before the antibody-producing cells got involved. Most of the samples, meanwhile, exhibited poor to modest neutralizing activity. Only 1 percent showed high neutralizing activity....<<<Read The Full Article Here>>>...
