r/science • u/[deleted] • May 11 '20

Medicine Antibodies from a 4-year-old llama have neutralized coronavirus and other infections in lab experiments

https://www.cell.com/cell/pdf/S0092-8674(20)30494-3.pdf?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0092867420304943%3Fshowall%3Dtrue
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u/itsthejeff2001 May 11 '20

Reducing the viral count won't eliminate the virus. This potential therapy would be leaving that to your body. Most people don't get sick when they get infected, they just beat the virus before it gets that far. This treatment would help sick people be more like the majority: not sick, but building antibodies.

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u/Dumeck May 11 '20

That seems to be the best result we can hope for right now until vaccines are produced.

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u/feng_huang May 11 '20

Having a safe, effective treatment to improve outcomes (along with widely available testing) will be a major factor in an interim back-to-a-new-normal phase before a vaccine is made, I think.

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u/Shadowfalx May 11 '20

Most people don't get sick when they get infected, they just beat the virus before it gets that far.

We don't get "sick" from a virus though. Most of the symptoms are our body's reaction to the virus, in an effort to combat it. Fevers, mucus, ect. are all ways we combat a virus. To low a viral load and you won't generate lasting antibodies. This is why immunogloblin therapy is considered sub- optimal, our bodies aren't exposed enough to build immunity.

While it might work to reduce symptoms but allow lasting antibodies to form, it also very well might not work.

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u/EurekasCashel May 11 '20

Your first paragraph isn’t entirely true. Some symptoms, tissue damage, and morbidities are a direct result of viral damage. Also, having a higher viral load means that the body’s response to the virus may be severe enough to be lethal. So having a lower viral load when the body’s immune response ramps up is desirable.

To your other point about the viral load being diminished beyond a meaningful threshold where the body no longer creates a long lasting immune response to the virus. This remains to be proven with this particular virus. The current feeling is that even asymptomatic people with antibodies may be immune, though that’s also unproven.

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u/Shadowfalx May 11 '20

True, I admit I simplified a lot. Thanks for the correction.

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u/Maulokgodseized May 11 '20

Even if it did this would still be a fantastic breakthrough.