Coronavirus: WHO questions the merits of "immune passports"

Text by: RFI Follow

There is no evidence that people who test positive for the new coronavirus are immune and protected against reinfection, warned WHO this Saturday, saying that the issuance of "immune passports" may promote the continued spread of the pandemic.

Publicity

"  There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from Covid-19 and who have antibodies are immune to a second infection,  " the World Health Organization said in a statement on Saturday. "  As of April 24, 2020, no study has evaluated whether the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 confers immunity against future infection with this virus in humans,  " she said.

Some governments have put forward the idea of ​​issuing documents attesting to the immunity of people on the basis of serological tests revealing the presence of antibodies in the blood, so as to deconfinate and allow little by little their return to work and the resumption of economic activity.

But the effectiveness of an immunization thanks to antibodies is not established at this stage and the available scientific data do not justify the granting of an "immune passport" or a "certificate of absence of risk" , warns the WHO.

Current serological tests not yet reliable enough

"  People who think they are immune to a second infection because they have tested positive may ignore the public health recommendations. The use of this type of certificate could therefore increase the risk that the transmission will continue,  ”she insists.

WHO also believes that the serological tests currently used "  need additional validation to determine their accuracy and reliability  ". They must in particular make it possible to distinguish the immune response to the new coronavirus from the antibodies produced during an infection by another of the six known human coronaviruses, four of which are widespread, causing mild colds. The other two are responsible for the Seas (Middle East respiratory syndrome) and SARS (Severe acute respiratory syndrome).

However, emphasizes the WHO, "  people infected with one or the other of these viruses are capable of producing antibodies which interact with antibodies produced in response to the infection caused by SARS-CoV-2  ", and it is therefore imperative to be able to identify them.

(With AFP)

Our selection on SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus

• Listen to Coronavirus Info , daily chronicle on the pandemic

• Explanation:  The origins of the Covid-19

• Analyzes:
→  What strategies to face the epidemic ?
→  A vaccine, the only solution to stem the pandemic?
→  What impact on conflict zones?

• Practical questions:
→  What is known about the mode of contagion
→  What results for ongoing clinical trials?
→  How to make a mask and use it well

Find all our articles, reports, chronicles and programs on the coronavirus by clicking here .

See also the files of RFI Savoirs  on the Covid-19:
•  Birth of a pandemic
•  Everyday life put to the test
•  The history of epidemics
•  The science facing the Covid-19
•  The geopolitical consequences

Newsletter With the Daily Newsletter, find the headlines directly in your mailbox

Follow all international news by downloading the RFI application

• Coronavirus
• Health and Medicine
• WHO

On the same subject

Coronavirus: will poor countries have access to the future vaccine?

Peru: Interior Minister resigns amid coronavirus crisis