WHO says not all recovered coronavirus patients are immune to second infection

World Health Organisation officials said on Monday that not all patients who recovered from the coronavirus have the antibodies to fight a second infection. These remarks raised questions as to whether or not patients develop immunity after surviving the virus.

“With regards to recovery and then reinfection, I believe we do not have the answers to that. That is an unknown,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s emergencies programmes, said at a press conference.

In China’s Shanghai, a preliminary study of patients found that some patients had “no detectable antibody response” while others had a very high response, said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s lead scientist on Covid-19.

Whether the patients that had a strong antibody response were immune to a second infection is “a separate question,” Kerkhove added.