Bear in mind in relation to immunity -- "Positive results may be due to past or present infection with non-SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus strains, such as coronavirus HKU1, NL63, OC43, or 229E."
Those are the most common corona viruses strains that cause symptoms of the common cold (which itself is caused by something like ~200 known different viruses, the most prevelant being rhinoviruses). I was under the impression many people already had these antibodies
Some health professional floated the theory that kids aren’t getting it as much as the rest of the population because they’ve recently been hammered with all the coronaviruses at daycare.
I’m hoping this is true, since it suggests new parents are mostly OK too.
The theory I've heard: Children mostly rely on their innate immune system compared to adults, where the adaptive immune system is more fully developed. In elderly people, the immune response of both systems is slower/weaker.
I keep searching for animal studies on this and come up empty - all I can find is some studies on serological cross response when testing people for SARS exposure.
Vaccines are obviously the best bet, but I wonder whether deliberately exposing the healthy to common cold Coronavirus might improve herd immunity against this Coronavirus. E.g. maybe in late summer it can be used to forestall a second wave of Coronavirus spread in the winter.
From the last paragraph before conclusion of their article:
"Certainly, this test cannot confirm virus presence, only provide evidence of recent infection, but it provides an important immunological evidence for physicians to make the correct diagnosis along with other tests and to start treatment of patients. In addition, possible cross-reactivity with other coronaviruses and flu viruses were not studied, and the change level of antibody was not compared in the different stages of SARS-CoV-2 infection."
