Study finds Covid breakthrough infections generate strong antibody response
Premium- Breakthrough infections are those where a fully vaccinated person gets infected with Covid
Covid antibody response: A new study has found that breakthrough infection generate strong antibody against Covid, according to news agency PTI.
Breakthrough infections are those where a fully vaccinated person gets infected with Covid. These infections have risen due to new highly infectious variant, Omicron.
A new study has found that people vaccinated three times or immunised after an earlier infection have comparable neutralising antibody response to those with a breakthrough infection.
Published in the journal Cell, the study looked at the strength, durability and breadth of neutralising antibody response generated by breakthrough infections in individuals vaccinated against Covid.
The researchers noted that the Delta and Omicron coronavirus variants have enhanced transmissibility and immune evasion compared to the original virus. These characteristics, and the waning of immunity from vaccines, have led to breakthrough infections in vaccinated individuals, they said as per the news agency.
The report further said that the study found that the degree of antibody response depended on whether a person has had one, two, three, or four exposures to the spike protein through infection, vaccination, or a mixture of the two.
The researchers checked antibody response in a group of individuals who had been vaccinated after having Covid. They also analysed the antibodies in people who were previously vaccinated and experienced a breakthrough infection, those who were vaccinated only, and individuals who were boosted.
The study found that people who had received three doses, those vaccinated after recovering from Covid, and those with a breakthrough infection had almost comparable neutralising antibody responses, in terms of magnitude and breadth.
Their blood serum binding and antibody neutralising responses to the spike protein in the coronavirus variants were much more potent and lasting than those generated by people who had received only two doses of vaccine, according to the report.
This observation suggested that the increased number of exposures to Covid antigens, either through infection and vaccination or triple vaccination, enhanced the quality of antibody responses, the researchers said.
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