Elon Musk-led study reveals not all COVID-19 patients have enough antibodies

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has become a co-author of a COVID-19 study in which he joined researchers to track the virus infection in 4,000 workers who came forward as volunteers. According to the Wall Street Journal, the study was conducted last year and it suggests that only a certain threshold of antibodies may provide people lasting protection against coronavirus.

To monitor the prevalence of the virus among the volunteers, Musk and SpaceX’s top medical executive worked with doctors and academic researchers to build an antibody-testing programme. Over 4,000 SpaceX workers volunteered for monthly blood tests. The study found that people who experienced fewer, milder COVID-19 symptoms generated fewer antibodies and were, therefore, less likely to meet the threshold for longer-term immunity. 

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'Antibodies doesn't mean immunity'

As per reports, the study revealed that the immune decision to generate a robust or weak response may occur at the time of the host-pathogen interaction, dependent on the level of viral challenge or inflammatory cues. It said that while the low-level challenge may elicit only weak, poorly functional antibodies, high burden challenge, on the other hand, may lead to the generation of a potent and functionally robust immune response, programmed to respond aggressively upon re-encounter with the pathogen. 

Further, the results of the research noted that unlike natural asymptomatic/mild infection, SARS-CoV-2 vaccines appear to drive robust immune responses. Researchers also observed some instances of reinfection in workers who previously were found to have low numbers of antibodies. While speaking to the media outlet, Galit Alter, one of the doctors who co-authored and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said that people can have antibodies, however, it doesn’t mean they are going to be immune. 

Alter added that the good news is most of the vaccines induce antibody level way higher than these levels. The study also noted that the need for multiple rounds of immunization suggests that more antigen or boosting may be required to push the immune system to generate functional immunity that may be required for protection. 

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