The difference in antibody levels achieved between physical illness and vaccination is significant, according to the results of the first part of a large study conducted by the Department of Life and Health Sciences of the University of Nicosia and the Biomedical Group with the support of SIEMENS .
According to yesterday's announcement of the University of Nicosia, the study aims to analyze the levels of antibodies (IgG) in the Cypriot population against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the disease COVID-19.
The innovation of the research focuses on the "blind" recruitment of volunteers who were invited to participate in the framework of their established clinical analyzes at the Chemistry of Giannouka / Biomedical Group.
The first part of the research includes data on antibody levels in the population, while the second part will also evaluate the immunity provided by T cells (cellular immunity).
The first cycle of the study includes 591 people aged 18 to 87 years from all cities of Cyprus, including people who did not get sick from COVID-19 and not vaccinated, people who got sick and did not get vaccinated, people who got vaccinated and did not get sick, and people who got sick and got vaccinated.
This first part of the study leads to important conclusions about humoral immunity (production of B lymphocytes that produce antibodies specific to the virus) against the virus that may help further treat the pandemic.
The results are detailed
The results show a significant difference in the levels of antibodies achieved between natural disease and vaccination.
Vaccination with any of the approved vaccines in Cyprus leads to the production of significantly higher antibody values than from the natural disease and possibly higher humoral immunity in all age groups studied.
Equally important is the observation that vaccination after illness results in the production of extremely high levels of antibodies in these individuals, which demonstrates the importance of vaccination even in people who have been ill in the past.
A comparison between the antibody levels of people who got sick but were not vaccinated and those who did not get sick but were vaccinated shows that even one dose of vaccine leads to higher antibody values.
The increase in antibody levels after vaccination is also shown by the levels of antibodies in the young age groups in which although the incidence of the disease is high, the antibodies remain low compared to the older age groups and this may be due to the lower vaccination rate in this the age group.
"Vote of confidence" in the national vaccination program
As stated by the General Coordinator of the research and President of the Department of Life and Health Sciences of the University of Nicosia, Professor Kyriakos Felekkis, "the continuous evaluation of immunity in the population with data collection is very important at this stage of the pandemic".
"The results of our research," he noted, "hope that they will contribute to the formulation and formulation of an evidence-based policy, thus helping the strategy of the vaccination program and the whole effort to immunize the population."
He added that "the cooperation of the University of Nicosia with one of the largest organizations providing diagnostic services in our country provides the resources to carry out a comprehensive study of the Cypriot population and to draw the right conclusions."
On behalf of the Biomedical Group, Kyriakos Giannoukas expressed his satisfaction for the successful completion of the first part of this large and ambitious research, noting that in turn they give a vote of confidence in the national vaccination program "which, as evidenced by these first results that it creates a significant level of antibodies in the population ".
The members of the research team: University of Nicosia: Prof. Kyriakos Felekkis, Dr. Christos Petrou, Dr. Christos Papaneofytou, Dr. Myrtani Pieris, Dr. Vicky Nikolaidou, Dr. Ioannis Sarigiannis and Dr. Eleftheria Galatou
Biomedical Group: Mr. Kyriakos Giannouka, Mr. Andria Nikolaou, Mr. Christos Themistokleous, Mr. Tonia Stavraki and Mr. Tassos Kalogiannis.
Next steps
According to the University of Nicosia, the second round of research will begin in mid-September and is expected to study, among other things, both cellular immunity and the levels of immunity presented by specific population groups.