"항체 생성률 낮아...치료제 나올 때까지 방역대책 철저해야"<br /><br />New research suggests only a small percentage of recovered COVID-19 patients generate an antibody to the virus that would prevent them from contracting it over and over again.<br />The researchers say that means the focus should remain on quarantine measures, while bracing for a potential second wave of infections.<br />Kim Sungmin reports.<br />Whenever a pathogen is detected, our body's immune system fights it to generate the antibody to kill it.<br />Fighting infections can give our body immunity from the pathogen should it infect us again.<br />Vaccination helps by providing us with the antibody before we get ill, but a vaccine for COVID-19 is likely a way away.<br />Countries like Sweden and the United Kingdom have opted to try and build a so-called 'herd immunity'...which means allowing the overall population to become sufficiently immune so the virus eventually stops spreading as it can't find enough suitable hosts.<br />But, recent research suggests an antibody for COVID-19 is not easily developed by our bodies' immune systems.<br />A seroepidemiology study from the Netherlands says only 2-to-3-percent of patients who have fully recovered from COVID-19 were found to have the antibody.<br />The head of the World Health Organization also said only a small percentage of the population, even in heavily-affected areas, may have produced the antibody after being infected.<br />The UK-based newspaper, The Guardian, wrote such a low percentage would seriously undermine hopes for developing herd immunity to COVID-19.<br />South Korea's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention interpreted the results as an extra reason to maintain tight quarantine measures in the nation.<br />"The fact that only a small portion of the European population has generated an antibody to COVID-19 suggests we cannot let our guard down."<br />South Korea is also planning its own research about the percentage of recovered patients who have developed an antibody.<br />"We accept we have to tighten our preparedness against the potential for a new wave and we'll try our best."<br />The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to accelerate steps for R&D, while planning long term countermeasures to mitigate the spread of the virus.<br />Kim Sung-min, Arirang News.<br />
