New study suggests COVID-19 immunity is ’waning’

New study suggests COVID-19 immunity is ’waning’

新研究指感染武漢肺炎後的免疫力正在「減弱」

【摘要2020.12.14.自由】◎陳成良

Researchers in the United Kingdom say they’ve observed a "significant" decline in the percentage of the population with COVID-19 antibodies, potentially pointing to "waning immunity."

英國的研究人員稱，他們觀察到擁有武漢肺炎（新型冠狀病毒病，COVID-19）抗體的人口比率「大幅」下降，這可能意味著「免疫力正在消退」。

Imperial College London scientists in the study found the prevalence of COVID-19 antibodies declined from six percent of the British population in June to 4.4 percent in September, Reuters reports. They came to the conclusion that there has been a "significant decline in the proportion of the population with detectable antibodies" by sending out finger-prick tests to a randomly selected group of over 365,000 people in England, according to CNN.

據路透報導，倫敦帝國學院的科學家在該研究中發現，COVID-19抗體的覆蓋率，從6月佔英國人口6%下降到9月的4.4%。據美國有線電視新聞網（CNN）指出，研究人員透過發放手指採血檢測試劑盒，在英國隨機選擇了逾36.5萬人，他們檢測後得出結論稱，「具有可檢測抗體的人群比率顯著下降。」

"On the balance of evidence I would say, with what we know for other coronaviruses, it would look as if immunity declines away at the same rate as antibodies decline away, and that this is an indication of waning immunity at the population level," Wendy Barclay, head of Imperial College London’s Department of Infectious Disease, said, per Reuters.

據路透報導，倫敦帝國學院傳染病系主任巴克萊（Wendy Barclay）說：「依證據的權衡，就我們對其他冠狀病毒的了解，我會這麼說，免疫力的下降速度與抗體下降的速度相同，這表明在人群水平上的免疫力正在減弱。」

新聞辭典

wane：動詞或名詞，變弱、衰退。例句：Biden’s popularity has waned.（拜登的聲望下滑。）

prevalence：名詞，流行、盛行。例句：The disease’s prevalence is increasing compared to other diseases.（相較於其他疾病，這種病的流行率不斷增加。）

come to the﹙a﹚conclusion：片語，得出結論、作出推論。例句：He came to the conclusion at one jump.（他一下子就得出結論。）