antibodies

Pascal Soriot, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of AstraZeneca, on Capitol Hill in Washington, February 26, 2019. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

March 16, 2021, 11:39 am

AstraZeneca boosts planned US supply of COVID-19 antibody drug

British pharmaceutical giant, whose coronavirus vaccine faces European safety doubts, announces it will provide 700,000 doses of a potential treatment for virus

By AFP

A man donates plasma at the Jewish Children's Museum plasma drive, Brooklyn, New York, January 27, 2021. (Courtesy/Anash.org)

February 12, 2021, 9:10 pm

Grassroots Orthodox effort in NY helps bring antibody treatment into mainstream

In early 2020, donors recruited by the Covid Plasma Initiative supplied 50% of the nation’s plasma, also demonstrating the treatment’s efficacy and paving the way to widespread use

By Cathryn J. Prince

Simon Belenkiy, left, and Sulamif Belenkaya were given monoclonal antibodies to combat COVID-19. (Courtesy)

January 28, 2021, 5:52 pm

Wonder drug that works? Monoclonal antibodies ‘cured’ my grandparents from COVID

US government health bodies warn there’s not nearly enough data to prove efficacy, but doctors report no deaths among thousands of high-risk patients prescribed the new treatment

By Julie Masis

A lab assistant holds a blood sample to be tested for COVID-19 antibodies, April 28, 2020, in Houston, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

January 27, 2021, 1:10 pm

Experts say serology tests unreliable, as immunity doesn’t require antibodies

Infectious disease chief advising Health Ministry warns against using serology tests in rollout of ‘green passport,’ since body fights reinfection even after antibodies fade

By TOI staff

Illustrative: Red blood cells alongside antibodies in an artery. (urfinguss; iStock by Getty Images)

January 18, 2021, 9:18 pm

Immune system ‘remembers’ to fight off coronavirus for at least 6 months: study

Research by UN and Switzerland shows that even though the level of antibodies fade, body maintains sufficient memory B cells, and they manage to stave off reinfection

By Kelly MacNamara

In this May 14, 2020 photo, medical staff transfer a patient through a corridor at the Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital, in Blackburn, England, amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Hannah McKay/Pool Photo via AP)

December 26, 2020, 11:01 am

UK scientists test drug to stop COVID-19 developing in those exposed to virus

Antibody treatment could be used to reduce deaths in nursing homes if immediately deployed upon discovery of infection; 10 people injected so far upon exposure to pathogen

By TOI staff

Illustration: Antibodies attacking contagious virus cells (wildpixel; iStock by Getty Images)

December 25, 2020, 12:41 pm

New studies indicate immunity to virus lasts at least 6-8 months after recovery

One paper shows body retains high level of memory B cells for lengthy period; two others indicate reinfection chances very low for at least half a year

By TOI staff and AP

Wally the llama, source of llama antibodies for COVID-19. (courtesy of Dina Schneidman-Duhovny)

November 8, 2020, 8:53 pm

Wally the llama’s antibodies, analyzed in J’lem, may help millions through COVID

‘They are highly potent,’ says Israeli researcher who scrutinized the Massachusetts llama’s ‘nanobodies’ to pave the way for an inhaler intended to help patients fight virus

By Nathan Jeffay

A coronavirus ward at Galilee Medical Center (Ancho Gosh Jini Photo Agency via Galilee Medical Center)

November 2, 2020, 1:57 pm

COVID-19 antibodies vanish fast. That doesn’t mean mass reinfection looms

Experts say disappearing antibodies don’t spell the end of immunity, following seemingly alarming British study

By Nathan Jeffay

First grade students arrive for their first day of school at Tali Geulim school in Jerusalem on September 1, 2020. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

October 21, 2020, 7:22 pm

Kids more likely to catch COVID-19 than adults, Health Ministry finds

Study presented to ministers shows percentage of positive tests among children stands at 8%, a full 2% higher than with adults; indicates re-opening schools led to infection spike

By TOI staff

US President Donald Trump removes his mask upon his return to the White House from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on October 5, 2020, in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images/AFP)

October 11, 2020, 8:22 pm

Hoping to outdo Trump’s ‘miracle cure,’ Israelis develop new antibody cocktail

US president took lab-made cocktail reportedly based on antibodies of mice and humans; Tel Aviv team says its version uses only human antibodies, potentially boosting reliability

By Nathan Jeffay

Illustrative: A COVID-19 patient lies face down as a nurse prepares an injection in the ICU of the National Hospital in Itagua, Paraguay, September 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

September 16, 2020, 6:43 pm

Study suggests antibody drug may cut COVID-19 hospitalizations

While tests of drug fell short of main goals, Eli Lilly says results hinting fewer people with virus may need to be hospitalized are an encouraging ‘proof of principle’

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE

A health worker draws blood from a patient for a COVID-19 antibody test at the Volusia County Fairgrounds in DeLand, Florida, on May 5, 2020. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

July 23, 2020, 5:42 am

Coronavirus antibodies fade fast, but protection may last longer

Initial research shows blood cells remember how to efficiently make new antibodies in case of reinfection, meaning someone can have immunity even without antibodies

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE

Medical personal at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan are seen in the hospital's coronavirus ward on June 30, 2020. (Yossi Zeliger/Flash90)

July 17, 2020, 12:21 pm

Israeli doctor diagnosed with COVID-19 three months after apparently recovering

TV report says medical worker at Sheba Medical Center first contracted coronavirus in April, had tested negative in May and June

By TOI staff

A rhesus macaque. (AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger)

July 3, 2020, 10:43 am

Chinese study shows 6 monkeys infected with coronavirus had short-term immunity

Unclear how long such immunity could last in humans; some reports of people possibly becoming reinfected, though there is speculation these are test-related issues

By AFP