Study debunks concept of 'herd immunity' as a way of tackling COVID-19

Only 5 per cent from a total of 61,000 patients that participated in the research in Spain developed antibodies to be able to fight the COVID-19 respiratory disease debunking the concept of “herd immunity”, according to a population-based seroepidemiological survey in a study published in the Lancet Journal. Experts found that Spain was "very far" from reaching the 60 per cent rate of infection within the community for the herd immunity to work, with the challenge of one-third of its population asymptomatic after contracting the virus.  

As per the research conducted in study ENE-COVID by the Spanish Ministry of Health and the Institute of Health Carlos III, in collaboration with the health services of the Spanish regions, SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were not developed in all of the 35,883 households infected with the coronavirus. "At present, herd immunity is difficult to achieve without accepting the collateral damage of many deaths in the susceptible population and overburdening of health systems," researchers wrote in the study, casting doubts on the prospect of ‘herd immunity’ to tackle the coronavirus.

Despite the high impact of Covid-19 in Spain, prevalence estimates remain low and are clearly insufficient to provide herd immunity, the study authors wrote in the medical journal. In this situation, social distancing measures and efforts to identify and isolate new cases and their contacts are imperative for future epidemic control, they added.

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70 to 90% population needs resistance

Additionally, the researchers observed that for the herd immunity to develop, over 70 per cent to 90 per cent of the total population had to build resistance to coronavirus, which implied most people in the community had to be infected. With coronavirus symptoms for each patient different, there was a huge risk factor involved. Moreover, the study found that COVID-19 antibodies were less than 3 per cent in the coastal regions, the large stretch of areas in Spain.

The study, therefore, advocated the need for maintaining public health measures to combat the coronavirus. In further research conducted in the US and China to detect possibility of "herd immunity" in the coronavirus patients, a study revealed that “most of the inhabitants appear to have remained unexposed to the coronavirus, even in spots with prevalent virus circulation" Therefore, the development of herd immunity from the COVID-19 seemed far-fetched, as per a Lancet report.

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(Images Credit: The Lancet Journal)