1. Shedding of infectious SARS-CoV-2 by hospitalized COVID-19 patients in relation to serum antibody responses
- Author
-
Maria Lind Karlberg, Max Bell, Jonas Klingström, Kimia T Maleki, Mikaela Olausson, Hedvig Glans, Wanda Christ, Sandra Broddesson, Ryan Falck-Jones, Renata Varnaite, Anna Färnert, Anna Smed-Sörensen, Sara Falck-Jones, Niclas Johansson, Sara Gredmark-Russ, and Andreas Bråve
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Male ,viruses ,Culture ,Infectious and parasitic diseases ,RC109-216 ,Antibodies, Viral ,Polymerase Chain Reaction ,Severity of Illness Index ,Immunoglobulin G ,0302 clinical medicine ,Medical microbiology ,Medicine ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Neutralizing antibody ,skin and connective tissue diseases ,biology ,virus diseases ,Middle Aged ,Virus Shedding ,Hospitalization ,Titer ,Infectious Diseases ,RNA, Viral ,Female ,Antibody ,Adult ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Virus ,Antibodies ,COVID-19 Serological Testing ,03 medical and health sciences ,Microneutralization Assay ,Humans ,Viral shedding ,Pandemics ,Aged ,business.industry ,SARS-CoV-2 ,Research ,fungi ,Sputum ,COVID-19 ,Antibodies, Neutralizing ,respiratory tract diseases ,030104 developmental biology ,Cross-Sectional Studies ,Immunology ,biology.protein ,business - Abstract
Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a global pandemic. The understanding of the transmission and the duration of viral shedding in SARS-CoV-2 infection is still limited. Objectives To assess the timeframe and potential risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from hospitalized COVID-19 patients in relation to antibody response. Method We performed a cross-sectional study of 36 COVID-19 patients hospitalized at Karolinska University Hospital. Patients with more than 8 days of symptom duration were sampled from airways, for PCR analysis of SARS-CoV-2 RNA and in vitro culture of replicating virus. Serum SARS-CoV-2-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) and neutralizing antibodies titers were assessed by immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and microneutralization assay. Results SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in airway samples in 23 patients (symptom duration median 15 days, range 9–53 days), whereas 13 patients were SARS-CoV-2 RNA negative (symptom duration median 21 days, range 10–37 days). Replicating virus was detected in samples from 4 patients at 9–16 days. All but two patients had detectable levels of SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG in serum, and SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies were detected in 33 out of 36 patients. Total SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG titers and neutralizing antibody titers were positively correlated. High levels of both total IgG and neutralizing antibody titers were observed in patients sampled later after symptom onset and in patients where replicating virus could not be detected. Conclusions Our data suggest that the presence of SARS-Cov-2 specific antibodies in serum may indicate a lower risk of shedding infectious SARS-CoV-2 by hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
- Published
- 2021