SARS-CoV-2 Immunity and Functional Recovery of COVID-19 Patients 1-year After Infection

Overview

Journal Signal Transduct Target Ther

Specialties Cell Biology
Pharmacology

Date 2021 Oct 14

PMID 34645784

Citations 24

Authors

Yan Zhan

Yufang Zhu

Shanshan Wang

Shijun Jia

Yunling Gao

Yingying Lu

Caili Zhou

Ran Liang

Dingwen Sun

Xiaobo Wang

Zhibing Hou

Qiaoqiao Hu

Peng Du

Hao Yu

Chang Liu

Miao Cui

Gangling Tong

Zhihua Zheng

Yunsheng Xu

Linyu Zhu

Jin Cheng

Feng Wu

Yulan Zheng

Peijun Liu

Peng Hong

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The long-term immunity and functional recovery after SARS-CoV-2 infection have implications in preventive measures and patient quality of life. Here we analyzed a prospective cohort of 121 recovered COVID-19 patients from Xiangyang, China at 1-year after diagnosis. Among them, chemiluminescence immunoassay-based screening showed 99% (95% CI, 98-100%) seroprevalence 10-12 months after infection, comparing to 0.8% (95% CI, 0.7-0.9%) in the general population. Total anti-receptor-binding domain (RBD) antibodies remained stable since discharge, while anti-RBD IgG and neutralization levels decreased over time. A predictive model estimates 17% (95% CI, 11-24%) and 87% (95% CI, 80-92%) participants were still 50% protected against detectable and severe re-infection of WT SARS-CoV-2, respectively, while neutralization levels against B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants were significantly reduced. All non-severe patients showed normal chest CT and 21% reported COVID-19-related symptoms. In contrast, 53% severe patients had abnormal chest CT, decreased pulmonary function or cardiac involvement and 79% were still symptomatic. Our findings suggest long-lasting immune protection after SARS-CoV-2 infection, while also highlight the risk of immune evasive variants and long-term consequences for COVID-19 survivors.

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