Research suggests smoking, vegetarianism could be ‘protective’ against infection
A first of its kind pan-India survey tracking about 10,000 employees of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on the prevalence of COVID-19 found that nearly 10% of the staff were infected. Key neutralising antibodies that protect against the virus waned after infection but were at “detectable levels” even after six months — a proxy for the period of effectiveness of future vaccination and general immunity, the serology survey found.
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About three-fourths of the respondents could not recall having experienced a single one of the symptoms commonly associated with the disease, and a vegetarian diet as well as smoking appeared to be “protective” against the infection.
The CSIR has about 40 labs across the country in nearly every State and its staff — from…