Anti-spike antibody response to natural SARS-CoV-2 infection in the general population

Jia Wei, Philippa C. Matthews, Nicole Stoesser, Thomas Maddox, Luke Lorenzi, Ruth Studley, John I. Bell, John N. Newton, Jeremy Farrar, Ian Diamond, Emma Rourke, Alison Howarth, Brian D. Marsden, Sarah Hoosdally, E. Yvonne Jones, David I. Stuart, Derrick W. Crook, Tim E. A. Peto, Koen B. Pouwels, A. Sarah Walker and David W. Eyre ()
Additional contact information
Jia Wei: University of Oxford
Philippa C. Matthews: University of Oxford
Nicole Stoesser: University of Oxford
Thomas Maddox: Office for National Statistics
Luke Lorenzi: Office for National Statistics
Ruth Studley: Office for National Statistics
John I. Bell: University of Oxford
John N. Newton: Public Health England
Jeremy Farrar: Wellcome Trust
Ian Diamond: Office for National Statistics
Emma Rourke: Office for National Statistics
Alison Howarth: University of Oxford
Brian D. Marsden: University of Oxford
Sarah Hoosdally: University of Oxford
E. Yvonne Jones: University of Oxford
David I. Stuart: University of Oxford
Derrick W. Crook: University of Oxford
Tim E. A. Peto: University of Oxford
Koen B. Pouwels: University of Oxford
A. Sarah Walker: University of Oxford
David W. Eyre: University of Oxford

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Understanding the trajectory, duration, and determinants of antibody responses after SARS-CoV-2 infection can inform subsequent protection and risk of reinfection, however large-scale representative studies are limited. Here we estimated antibody response after SARS-CoV-2 infection in the general population using representative data from 7,256 United Kingdom COVID-19 infection survey participants who had positive swab SARS-CoV-2 PCR tests from 26-April-2020 to 14-June-2021. A latent class model classified 24% of participants as ‘non-responders’ not developing anti-spike antibodies, who were older, had higher SARS-CoV-2 cycle threshold values during infection (i.e. lower viral burden), and less frequently reported any symptoms. Among those who seroconverted, using Bayesian linear mixed models, the estimated anti-spike IgG peak level was 7.3-fold higher than the level previously associated with 50% protection against reinfection, with higher peak levels in older participants and those of non-white ethnicity. The estimated anti-spike IgG half-life was 184 days, being longer in females and those of white ethnicity. We estimated antibody levels associated with protection against reinfection likely last 1.5-2 years on average, with levels associated with protection from severe infection present for several years. These estimates could inform planning for vaccination booster strategies.

Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26479-2 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-26479-2

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26479-2

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().