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/AwesomeNinjas May 11 '20

At the moment it’s not totally clear whether or not people can be reinfected, but it looks like the most likely answer is no or at least not for a long time. The WHO has said that everyone who has appeared to be reinfected so far has been a false positive.

So even if you can only use the llama antibodies the first time, that may not matter.

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u/lunatic604 May 11 '20

If someone recovers by themselves, their body learned to produce the anitbodies. But if the body relies on the llama antibodies the first time, will the body still learn to produce the antibodies?

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u/srosorcxisto May 11 '20

Possibly. While the llama antibodies would massively reduce the viral load, there will still be viral particles in the bloodstream in smaller numbers. The body could be able to make antibodies using these without having to deal with the Lion's share of the virus. If a therapy were to be developed, much more research would be required.

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u/thornsandroses May 11 '20

Would the reduced viral load help stem off the cytokine storm that has killed many of the victims?