Age is not a disease: Evolution of protective antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in seniors from the Břevnice nursing home
Authors:
Václav Fejt 1; Zuzana Krátká 2,5; Hana Zelená 3,6; Tomáš Fürst 4,5
Authors‘ workplace:
Oddělení společných laboratoří, Nemocnice Havlíčkův Brod
1; Imunologická laboratoř GENNET, s. r. o., Praha
2; Centrum klinických laboratoří, Zdravotní ústav se sídlem v Ostravě
3; Katedra matematické analýzy a aplikací matematiky PřF UP v Olomouci
4; Katedra biomedicínských oborů LF OU v Ostravě
6; BIN – Centrum pro bayesovskou inferenci
54
Published in:
Čas. Lék. čes. 2020; 159: 303-311
Category:
Original Article
Overview
In the nursing home in Břevnice, 21 out of 23 seniors were infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the spring of 2020. Three of them died from the infection. This study monitors the antibodies formation in group of seniors who have overcome the infection.
Between April and November (1-8 months after the infection), the antibodies were measured repeatedly within the period of several weeks. The virus neutralizing tests was used as well as the ECLIA assay by Roche (total immunoglobulins), CMIA assay by Abbott (IgG) and ELISA assay by Euroimmun (IgG and IgA). Six months from the infection, neutralizing antibodies were detected in 18 out of 20 seniors. High levels of neutralizing antibodies correlated with higher levels of immunoglobulins and were a good predictor of an increase of IgG in the autumn during the second wave of the epidemic in the Czech Republic.
During the autumn wave, neither any of the clients, nor any staff contracted the virus, although the prevalence of PCR positivity in the Vysočina region reached around 5 %. The antigen tests also came out all negative.
This study shows that in the senior population, the production of protective antibodies follows a normal pattern, and the seniors are probably immune to a repeated infection for at least 8 months from the first infection. Based on these results, we would like to open the discussion on the testing for seroprevalence in nursing homes, possible changes to the epidemiologic regime in relation to the risk of infection, and about vaccination schemes in these centers.
Keywords:
SARS-CoV-2 – COVID-19 – elderly – Antibodies – Dynamics – nursing home – dementia – reinfection
Sources
- Ioannidis JPA. The infection fatality rate of COVID-19 inferred from seroprevalence data. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2020 Oct 14: BLT.20.265892. Dostupné na: www.who.int/bulletin/online_first/BLT.20.265892.pdf
- Poland GA, Ovsyannikova IG, Kennedy RB. SARS-CoV-2 immunity: review and applications to phase 3 vaccine candidates. Lancet 2020; 396: 1595-1606.
- Folkhalsomyndigheten – Public Health Agency of Sweden. The infection fatality rate of COVID-19 in Stockholm – technical report. Folkhalsomyndigheten, 2020. Dostupné na: www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se/contentassets/53c0dc391be54f5d959ead9131edb771/infection-fatality-rate-covid-19-stockholm-technical-report.pdf
- Ministerstvo zdravotnictví ČR. COVID-19: Přehled aktuální situace v ČR. MZ ČR, 2020. Dostupné na: https://onemocneni-aktualne.mzcr.cz/covid-19?utm_source=general&utm_medium=widget&utm_campaign=covid-19
- Lindahl JF, Hoffman T, Esmaeilzadeh M et al. High seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in elderly care employees in Sweden. Infect Ecol Epidemiol 2020; 10: 1789036.
- Abrams HR, Loomer L, Gandhi A et al. Characteristics of U.S. nursing homes with COVID-19 cases. J Am Geriatr Soc 2020; 68: 1653-1656.
- Sekine T, Perez-Potti A, Rivera-Ballesteros O et al. Robust T cell immunity in convalescent individuals with asymptomatic or mild COVID-19. Cell 2020; 183: 158-168.e14.
- Kellam P, Barclay W. The dynamics of humoral immune responses following SARS-CoV-2 infection and the potential for reinfection. J Gen Virol 2020; 101: 791-797.
- Ledford H. Coronavirus reinfections: three questions scientists are asking. Nature 2020; 585: 168-169.
- Nakažená seniorka z domova na Vysočině podlehla koronaviru. Novinky.cz, 29. 3. 2020. Dostupné na: www.novinky.cz/koronavirus/clanek/nakazena-seniorka-z-domova-na-vysocine-podlehla-koronaviru-40318485
- Pickering S, Betancor G, Galão RP et al. Comparative assessment of multiple COVID-19 serological technologies supports continued evaluation of point-of-care lateral flow assays in hospital and community healthcare settings. PLoS Pathog 2020; 16: e1008817.
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration. EUA authorized serology test performance. FDA, 12. 7. 2020. Dostupné na: www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-emergency-use-authorizations-medical-devices/eua-authorized-serology-test-performance
- Januška J, Daneš L, Heinz F. Laboratory diagnostic methods of arboviral and rodent-born viral infections. Avicenum, Praha, 1990.
- Zelená H, Januška J, Raszka J. Micromodification of virus-neutralisation assay with vital staining in 96-well plate and its use in diagnostics of Ťahyňa virus infections Epidemiol Mikrobiol Imunol 2008; 57: 104-108.
- Litzba N, Zelená H, Kreil TR et al. Evaluation of different serological diagnostic methods for tick-borne encephalitis virus: enzyme-linked immunosorbent, immunofluorescence, and neutralization assay. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis 2014; 14: 149-159.
- Ministerstvo práce a sociálních věcí ČR. Statistická ročenka z oblasti práce a sociálních věcí 2019. MPSV ČR, 2020. Dostupné na: www.mpsv.cz/documents/20142/975025/Statisticka_rocenka_z_oblasti_prace_a_socialnich_veci_2019+%281%29.pdf/9da5cc00-7d78-7caa-6bf2-01eeccdeabd7
- Rudberg AS, Havervall S, Månberg A et al. SARS-CoV-2 exposure, symptoms and seroprevalence in healthcare workers in Sweden. Nat Commun 2020; 11: 5064.
- Wajnberg A, Amanat F, Firpo A et al. Robust neutralizing antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 infection persist for months. Science 2020; 370: 1227–1230.
- Bohoněk M, Řezáč D. Výroba a použití rekonvalescentní plazmy pro léčbu COVID-19 s přihlédnutím ke zkušenostem v ÚVN Praha. Časopis lékařů českých 2020; 159: 175-180.
- Společnost pro lékařskou mikrobiologii ČLS JEP. Přímá detekce SARS-CoV-2: detekce antigenu. SPLM, 23. 9. 2020. Dostupné na: www.splm.cz/article/prima-detekce-sars-cov-2-detekce-antigenu
- Společnost pro lékařskou mikrobiologii ČLS JEP. Stanovisko rakouské společnosti pro infekční choroby a tropickou medicínu k testovani SARS-CoV-2. SPLM, 4. 10. 2020. Dostupné na: www.splm.cz/article/stanovisko-rakouske-spolecnosti-pro-infekcni-choroby-a-tropickou-medicinu-k-testovani-sars-cov-2
- Ministerstvo zdravotnictví ČR. Strategie testování onemocnění COVID-19 pro sezónu respiračních onemocnění 2020/202. Příloha 3 – Průřezové studie protilátkové imunity. MZ ČR, 29. 9. 2020. Dostupné na: https://koronavirus.mzcr.cz/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Strategie-testov%C3%A1n%C3%AD-COVID-19_def_200929.pdf
- Kučera R. Srovnání manuálních a automatizovaných metodik stanovení protilátek IgG SARS-CoV-2. 28. severočeská imunologická konference, Ústí nad Labem, 11.–12. 9. 2020.
- Krátká Z, Fürst T, Vencálek O et al. Průzkumný vrt: jak správně připravit, provést a vyhodnotit séroprevalenční studii. Časopis lékařů českých 2020; 159: 217-225.
- Watson J, Whiting PF, Brush JE. Interpreting a COVID-19 test result. BMJ 2020; 369: m1808.
Labels
Addictology Allergology and clinical immunology Angiology Audiology Clinical biochemistry Dermatology & STDs Paediatric gastroenterology Paediatric surgery Paediatric cardiology Paediatric neurology Paediatric ENT Paediatric psychiatry Paediatric rheumatology Diabetology Pharmacy Vascular surgery Pain managementArticle was published in
Journal of Czech Physicians
Most read in this issue
- Principles and new perspectives in the vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 virus
- Season of the year, vitamin D and COVID-19
- Age is not a disease: Evolution of protective antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in seniors from the Břevnice nursing home
- Biological effects of ionizing radiation