Recent research found that coronavirus antibodies remain in our bodies for at least three months. That is according to a study of blood and saliva samples collected from dozens of patients infected with COVID-19. Scientists at the University of Toronto and the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Sinai Health compared the samples over the course of three months after first symptoms appeared.

The IgG antibodies that help fight off future infections from the virus were detected 115 days after the onset of symptoms, according to Ladders, which is the longest interval ever measured. These antibodies prevent the spike protein of SAR-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, from infecting new cells by binding to that protein. Researchers revealed that this is the first test to detect IgG antibodies in saliva.

“Our study suggests that saliva may serve as an alternative for antibody testing,” said Jennifer Gommerman, Ph.D., an immunologist, and the lead study author from the University of Toronto, according to a news release.

The latest evidence confirms research recently conducted in Iceland. Scientists measured the levels of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the blood of approximately 30,000 study participants, including 1,200 who tested positive for the virus and recovered. They found 91.1% of those who had recovered from COVID-19 had antibodies against the virus months after infection. Their results were published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

According to Nature, those protective antibodies actually rose during two months after diagnosis and remained at high levels for an extended period of time.

“Our results indicate that antiviral antibodies against SARs-CoV-2 did not decline within 4 months of diagnosis,” wrote the authors.

This good news came after a study conducted at King’s College London found that the levels of antibodies of recovered COVID-19 people waned after infection. According to The Daily Caller, British researchers analyzed the blood of infected patients and healthcare workers and found that the levels of protective antibodies peaked about three weeks after the first symptoms of COVID-19 appeared. However, those antibodies were found in only 17% of the patients three months later.

So, the new research comes as a welcome addition to more optimistic forecasts about how long antibodies protect us against COVID-19. It also adds weight as to how well a vaccine will work.

“This study suggests that if a vaccine is properly designed, it has the potential to induce a durable antibody response against the virus that causes COVID-19,” said Gommerman, according to Ladders.