CHENNAI: Data shows a drastic reduction in antibodies in people affected by Covid, just a couple of months after recovery. This, based on data collected from the plasma bank at the Rajiv Gandhi government hospital in Chennai.
So far, around 200 people who have recovered from Covid, including police and fire personnel, have donated convalescent plasma at the bank. Many of them are regular donors now. Meanwhile, the plasma bank officials have been measuring the level of IgG antibodies in blood of repeated donors.
Titer tests, which measure antibodies, showed a drastic reduction in antibodies against Covid with every subsequent donation. For instance, when a man donated his plasma at the bank on May 25 for the first time post recovery, the titer value was 4.59. When the same person donated it on 27 June, it was 3.69. The third time, on August 7, it was 2.96.
Similarly, for another man, the value was 7.76 on July 24 and then it plunged to 5.99 on August 20.
Commenting on the observation, Dr K Kolandaswamy, former Director of Public Health said, “Antibodies might be lost, but the body will have immune memory.
So if there is reinfection, the body’s immune system will identify that virus and trigger an immune response.” However, he added, that there was no use of people donating plasma if their antibody level is low. A senior doctor at the hospitals said, “We have been collecting the data for a study.
The data collected suggests that antibodies are short-lived. It is a common phenomenon for many viral diseases. But once the body gets infected, it will have immunity for long. Since Covid is a new disease, we need to study if it is the same for SARS-COV-2 also. Again, I didn’t come across any reinfection from April till date in any cured patients visiting the plasma bank.”
Declining strength
When a man donated his plasma on May 25 for the first time post recovery, the titer value was 4.59. When the same person donated it on 27 June, it was 3.69. The third time, on August 7, it was 2.96