[Anchor]
Upon testing domestic cases of COVID-19, it has been revealed that everyone is able to create antibodies that neutralize the virus.
It appears that it can also raise the immune system.
We will now have Reporter Lee Hyeong-won.
[Reporter]
Quarantine officials have undergone antibody experiments on patients with COVID-19.
The subjects were 25 people in recovery, right before their release of quarantine.
They discovered an antibody that could neutralize COVID-19 in everyone.
After being infected, there was a 100% rate of this antibody being created.
But 12 of those subjects still tested positive in a gene amplification test.
[Han Myeong-guk / Team Director of Test Analysis, Central Disease Control Headquarters : Although pieces of the virus were detected in their DNA samples, we can see that the virus was not able to incubate or separate, meaning this antibody creates a form of defense against the virus.]
These 12 subjects were tested in an incubation and separation test, and they all tested negative for the virus.
[Shin Sang-yeop / Professional of Infectious Diseases : A living virus would have to incubate and multiply, but these pieces of the virus are dead, and cannot do so.]
This antibody created in the body neutralizes the virus to a certain point and greatly reduces its infectiousness.
However, there are limitations to this study.
While every subject had the antibody, the test sample was too small to generalize.
Because the subjects were in recovery and set to complete quarantine, it is still unknown how long this antibody lasts after full recovery.
[Jeong Eun-gyeong / Head of Central Disease Control Headquarters : Other countries are showing 3 to 14 percent of antibody positive rate. We plan to test for this antibody in areas such as Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do, where many people have been infected.]
Currently with no immunity to the virus, a second wave of infection is possible.
This has been Lee Hyeong-won of YTN.
#COVID19_antibody #immunity #COVID19_TEST
