PGIMER initiates study on persistence of Covid antibodies

The study is an extension of the plasma-therapy trial conducted at 39 hospitals across the country

Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) has initiated a study on how long Covid-19 antibodies persist in recovered patients.

Representative image/HT

The study is an extension of the plasma-therapy trial conducted at 39 hospitals across the country.

“The study is important so we can find out for long a person is immune to the infection. So, as part of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) trials, we have also collected samples from 60% of the patients who were either donors or recipients of the plasma trials. The aim is to check whether antibodies fall or persist in patients who once surely developed them,” said Pankaj Malhotra from the internal medicine department, PGIMER, and principal investigator of the study said.

The samples collected will be sent to National Institute of Virology, Pune, to study the effect of antibodies on the live virus.

“It will also have an impact on how the vaccine will provide safety. If antibodies persist for a long time, we can safely assume that it will have a long term impact. Also, since a huge population has recovered, it will be better for us to understand for how long they are immune,” Malhotra added.