"Natural Immunity" from Omicron is Weak and Limited, Study Finds
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Wednesday, May 18, 2022
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SAN FRANCISCO, May 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In unvaccinated people, infection with the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 provides little long-term immunity against other variants, according to a new study by researchers at Gladstone Institutes and UC San Francisco (UCSF), published today in the journal Nature.
Key Points:
- In experiments using mice and blood samples from donors who were infected with Omicron, the team found that the Omicron variant induces only a weak immune response.
- To find the answer, the team of researchers first examined the effect of Omicron in mice.
- Compared to an ancestral strain of SARS-CoV-2 and the Delta variant, Omicron led to far fewer symptoms in the mice.
- Samples from WA1-infected animals could neutralize Alpha and, to a lesser degree, the Beta and Delta virusbut not Omicron.