Two new medical studies suggest that people who have been infected once with COVID-19 are very unlikely to test positive again for up to six months and possibly longer.
Researchers found that people with antibodies from natural infections were “at much lower risk … in order of the same kind of protection you would get from an effective vaccine,” to get the virus back, Dr. Ned Sharpless, director of the US National Cancer Institute, who conducted one of the studies.
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“It is very, very rare” to get infected again, he said.
Both studies used two types of tests. One is a blood test for antibodies that bind to a virus and help eliminate it. antibodies can linger for many months after infection. The second type of test uses nasal or other specimens to detect the virus or bits of it, indicating current or recent infection.
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