MOSCOW, 27 Jun — RIA Novosti. The world health organization has warned that presently there is no evidence that people who recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from reinfection. The information is presented in the form of scientific notes and published in connection with the discussed proposal of the governments of several countries to introduce the so-called “immunity passport” that would allow ill people to travel freely or return to work.
Some governments, wanting a gradual return to work and resumption of economic activities, put forward the idea of creating a document confirming on the basis of serological tests to reveal people the presence of antibodies in the blood, immunity to the new coronavirus.
But the effectiveness of the protection from SARS-CoV-2 by antibodies is still not established by any scientific study.
“currently there is no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 antibodies and are protected from re-infection, says the who statement . — As of April 24, 2020 no study evaluated whether the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 immunity to subsequent infection by this virus”.
it is also Noted that not all survivors produced a strong enough immune response, and some survivors “have very low levels of neutralizing antibodies in the blood.”
the who believes that at this stage of the pandemic in order to guarantee people no risk of re-infection, insufficient data on how strong the immune system to provide antibodies.
moreover, according to the who, the use of such “passports” or vouchers may give their owners the illusion of safety, they will cease to follow the recommendations of public health that will further increase the risk of spreading disease.
Another factor that, according to the international organization makes the very premature discussion, the introduction of such documents, this is the unreliability of the tests themselves.
“currently Used serological tests require further validation to determine their accuracy and reliability, — the document says. — First, they may mistakenly tag the people who were infected as a negative, and secondly, people who were not infected, falsely marked as positive. Both errors have serious consequences and will affect efforts to control the spread of the disease”.
experts Also note that these tests cannot distinguish an immune response to the new coronavirus from antibodies to other known human coronaviruses, four of which are widely distributed in the population and cause minor colds. Two more responsible for SARS — severe acute respiratory syndrome, and MERS — middle East respiratory syndrome.
“People infected with one of these coronaviruses capable of producing antibodies that interact with antibodies produced in response to infection caused by SARS-CoV-2”, — stated in the who report.
