New research study in rhesus monkeys suggests that contracting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, might protect against repeat infection.
For live updates on the most recent developments regarding the novel coronavirus and COVID-19, click here
Some recent reports have recommended that COVID-19 can repeat in individuals after they have actually recuperated from the illness.
However, the available scientific evidence has actually not verified that there is a danger of reinfection with SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19
In a brand-new study, which looks like a preprint on the scientific server bioRxiv, a group of researchers utilized rhesus macaques to explore the potential for COVID-19 reoccurrence.
The investigation, which has actually not yet been peer examined, involved reexposing the monkeys to SARS-CoV-2 after their symptoms had actually vanished.
Linlin Bao, from the Beijing Key Laboratory for Animal Models of Emerging and Reemerging Transmittable Diseases, is the very first author of the paper.
Bao and colleagues contaminated four adult Chinese rhesus macaques with SARS-CoV-2 utilizing tissue culture contagious doses.
They measured the monkeys’ body weight and temperature level and took X-rays, sera samples, and nasal, throat, and anal swabs from the animals.
The monkeys each weighed 3– 5 kilograms at the start of the study, and 3 of the four lost 200–400 grams after the preliminary infection.
The monkeys also briefly showed other medical signs of the disease, such as an anorexia nervosa, increased respiration rate, and stooped posture.
The researchers measured the monkeys’ viral loads utilizing respiratory and anal swabs. The viral loads assessed nasal and pharyngeal swabs peaked 3 days after the preliminary infection, while those measured from anal swabs revealed a comparable peak, at 3 days. The viral loads then declined.
The euthanasia and necropsy of among the monkeys exposed that the virus had actually made its way into the nose, vocal cords, and lungs– as well as the gut, spinal cord, heart, skeletal muscle, and bladder.
Most of the sores took place in the lungs, causing mild to moderate interstitial pneumonia.
To longitudinally track the attributes after reinfection, the researchers measured the antibodies that the remaining 3 animals had actually naturally developed in action to the preliminary infection. They did so at days 14