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No antibodies? Don’t despair just yet

caption: A rendering by UW Medicine researchers of the structure of the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein .
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A rendering by UW Medicine researchers of the structure of the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein .

The million dollar question in these times: if you’ve had COVID once, can you get it again?

A lot of the early discussion around SARS-Cov2-19 described it as a disease like no other. Antibody testing, while not conclusive regarding immunity, is one of the few spots of hope in people’s anxiety over reinfection.

But while Covid-19 is a novel virus, our immune system’s response to it is much like you’d expect from any illness, says University of Washington immunologist Marion Pepper. And that means antibodies aren’t the only trick your body has up its sleeve to protect you.

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