(Craig Lord/ Global News) — Researchers in Ottawa are embarking on a 10-month study to answer critical questions about how individual immune system responses to the novel coronavirus differ and how soon after infection a patient might be at risk again.
The team’s findings could have major implications for vaccine research and help to predict an individual’s risk of developing serious complications related to COVID-19, but one of the study’s lead researchers warns the findings won’t lead to any ironclad declarations of COVID immunity among recovered patients.
A team of researchers with the University of Ottawa and The Ottawa Hospital will study COVID-19 antibody and T cell responses from 1,000 subjects over the next 10 months. In an infection, T cells target infected cells and help to stimulate B cells, which then produce antibodies to neutralize pathogens and label them for disruption. (…)