COVID-19 patients risk re-infection if antibodies decrease - Health DG

KUALA LUMPUR: Studies to determine the neutralising antibody levels (immunity) in COVID-19 patients are needed to see if they can be re-infected, besides the long-term and side effects on their organs.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said through the study, if there is a decline in antibody levels after three months of monitoring, patients were more likely to be infected again.

“If the antibody declines after three months, there is a possibility the patient can be re-infected. Or we will see if there are other studies on the long-term and side effects on certain organs after recovering,” he said in a virtual press conference posted on the Facebook page of the Health Ministry (MOH) yesterday.

On Tuesday via his Facebook page, Dr Noor Hisham invited former COVID-19 patients to participate in a medical research conducted by a group of researchers at the Institute of Medical Research (IMR).

He said the study was important to determine the level of neutralising antibodies (immunity) in the blood that could prevent COVID-19 bacteria from infecting previously infected patients.

Hence, Dr Noor Hisham called on patients to participate in the medical research titled: ‘Kajian Membujur Tindak Balas Antibodi Neutralisasi Dalam Kalangan Pesakit COVID-19 di Malaysia’.

-- BERNAMA