Serological investigation of asymptomatic cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection reveals weak and declining antibody responses
Without an effective vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the build-up of herd immunity through natural infection has been suggested as a means to control COVID-19. Although population immunity is typically estimated by the serological investigation of recovered patients, humoral immunity in asymptomatic sub...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Emerging Microbes and Infections |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/22221751.2021.1919032 |
| _version_ | 1818498925246545920 |
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| author | Yong Yang Xi Wang Rong-Hui Du Wei Zhang Hao-Rui Si Yan Zhu Xu-Rui Shen Qian Li Bei Li Dong Men Ya-na Zhou Hui Wang Xiao-lin Tong Xian-en Zhang Zheng-Li Shi Peng Zhou |
| author_facet | Yong Yang Xi Wang Rong-Hui Du Wei Zhang Hao-Rui Si Yan Zhu Xu-Rui Shen Qian Li Bei Li Dong Men Ya-na Zhou Hui Wang Xiao-lin Tong Xian-en Zhang Zheng-Li Shi Peng Zhou |
| author_sort | Yong Yang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Without an effective vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the build-up of herd immunity through natural infection has been suggested as a means to control COVID-19. Although population immunity is typically estimated by the serological investigation of recovered patients, humoral immunity in asymptomatic subjects has not been well studied, although they represent a large proportion of all SARS-CoV-2 infection cases. In this study, we conducted a serosurvey of asymptomatic infections among food workers and performed serological and cellular response analyses of asymptomatic subjects in Wuhan, the original epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak. Our data showed that up to 5.91% of the food workers carried SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies asymptomatically; however, in 90.4% of them, the antibody level declined over a 2-week period. IgM and IgG antibodies, including neutralizing antibodies, were significantly lower in asymptomatic subjects than in recovered symptomatic patients with similar disease courses. Furthermore, the asymptomatic subjects showed lymphopenia and a prominent decrease in the B-cell population, as well as a low frequency of antibody-secreting cells and a low cytokine response. These factors probably contributed to the low and unsustained antibody levels in asymptomatic subjects. Our results show that asymptomatic subjects are likely to be vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 reinfection, and neither the proportion of population immunity nor the breadth of immune responses is sufficient for herd immunity. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T20:22:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-715ed1f7efa74fc99a051d9e5f8dfbd3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2222-1751 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T20:22:11Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Emerging Microbes and Infections |
| spelling | doaj.art-715ed1f7efa74fc99a051d9e5f8dfbd32022-12-22T01:34:59ZengTaylor & Francis GroupEmerging Microbes and Infections2222-17512021-01-0110190591210.1080/22221751.2021.1919032Serological investigation of asymptomatic cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection reveals weak and declining antibody responsesYong Yang0Xi Wang1Rong-Hui Du2Wei Zhang3Hao-Rui Si4Yan Zhu5Xu-Rui Shen6Qian Li7Bei Li8Dong Men9Ya-na Zhou10Hui Wang11Xiao-lin Tong12Xian-en Zhang13Zheng-Li Shi14Peng Zhou15CAS Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens & State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens & State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaWuhan pulmonary hospital, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens & State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens & State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens & State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens & State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens & State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens & State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens & State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaHubei provincial hospital of TCM, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaWuhan Municipal Health Commission, Wuchang branch, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaDepartment of Endocrinology, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100053, People’s Republic of ChinaNational Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, CAS Center for Excellence in Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens & State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens & State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaWithout an effective vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the build-up of herd immunity through natural infection has been suggested as a means to control COVID-19. Although population immunity is typically estimated by the serological investigation of recovered patients, humoral immunity in asymptomatic subjects has not been well studied, although they represent a large proportion of all SARS-CoV-2 infection cases. In this study, we conducted a serosurvey of asymptomatic infections among food workers and performed serological and cellular response analyses of asymptomatic subjects in Wuhan, the original epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak. Our data showed that up to 5.91% of the food workers carried SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies asymptomatically; however, in 90.4% of them, the antibody level declined over a 2-week period. IgM and IgG antibodies, including neutralizing antibodies, were significantly lower in asymptomatic subjects than in recovered symptomatic patients with similar disease courses. Furthermore, the asymptomatic subjects showed lymphopenia and a prominent decrease in the B-cell population, as well as a low frequency of antibody-secreting cells and a low cytokine response. These factors probably contributed to the low and unsustained antibody levels in asymptomatic subjects. Our results show that asymptomatic subjects are likely to be vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 reinfection, and neither the proportion of population immunity nor the breadth of immune responses is sufficient for herd immunity.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/22221751.2021.1919032SARS-CoV-2COVID-19asymptomaticserologyweak antibody response |
| spellingShingle | Yong Yang Xi Wang Rong-Hui Du Wei Zhang Hao-Rui Si Yan Zhu Xu-Rui Shen Qian Li Bei Li Dong Men Ya-na Zhou Hui Wang Xiao-lin Tong Xian-en Zhang Zheng-Li Shi Peng Zhou Serological investigation of asymptomatic cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection reveals weak and declining antibody responses Emerging Microbes and Infections SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 asymptomatic serology weak antibody response |
| title | Serological investigation of asymptomatic cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection reveals weak and declining antibody responses |
| title_full | Serological investigation of asymptomatic cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection reveals weak and declining antibody responses |
| title_fullStr | Serological investigation of asymptomatic cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection reveals weak and declining antibody responses |
| title_full_unstemmed | Serological investigation of asymptomatic cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection reveals weak and declining antibody responses |
| title_short | Serological investigation of asymptomatic cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection reveals weak and declining antibody responses |
| title_sort | serological investigation of asymptomatic cases of sars cov 2 infection reveals weak and declining antibody responses |
| topic | SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 asymptomatic serology weak antibody response |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/22221751.2021.1919032 |
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