A study presented and published by the World Health Organisation (WHO), has concluded that less than 10% of the worlds population has developed antibodies against Covid-19, and that “most of humanity is still susceptible to the disease.”
Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO technical director responsible for the organisation of the study of covid-19, clarified her comments during an interview with news agency Efe, saying that there are hundreds of seroprevalence studies (level of pathogen in a population according to blood (serum) tests), which have produced a wide variety of results and “therefore, it is difficult to arrive at a categorical conclusion, but in principle, a majority of the studies show that more than 90% of individuals tested had not developed Covid-19 antibodies.”
The American specialist explained that in some studies approximately 20% – 25% of health workers developed antibodies, and in some specific areas, such as in the suburbs of some countries, up to 40% seroprevalences was obtained.
Van Kerkhove also indicated that different results have been obtained from tests to measure the resistance of these antibodies, with some investigations showing that their effectiveness against the virus decreases over a period of time while other tests indicate that it does not vary. She concluded by saying that “in any case, with other coronaviruses that cause colds, SARS or MERS, it has been proved that antibodies are not permanent, and it is possible that this will also apply to Covid-19.”
Therefore, the world’s population is still very vulnerable to the virus, and adequate measures need to be implemented and adhered to.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
