tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Signal Transduct Target Ther
. 2021 May 10;6(1):181.
doi: 10.1038/s41392-021-00596-2.
Viral dynamics and antibody responses in people with asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection
Zhiwei Sui[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 [/SUP], Xinhua Dai[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 [/SUP], Qingbin Lu[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 2 [/SUP], Yulan Zhang[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 3 4 [/SUP], Min Huang[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 5 [/SUP], Shufen Li[SUP] 3 4 [/SUP], Tao Peng[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jie Xie[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yongzhuo Zhang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Chunchen Wu[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Jianbo Xia[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Lianhua Dong[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jiayi Yang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Wenfeng Huang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Siyuan Liu[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ziquan Wang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ke Li[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Qingfang Yang[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Xi Zhou[SUP] 3 4 8 [/SUP], Ying Wu[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Wei Liu[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Xiang Fang[SUP] 11 [/SUP], Ke Peng[SUP] 12 13 14 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Over 40% of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) COVID-19 patients were asymptomatically infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the immune responses of these asymptomatic individuals is a critical factor for developing the strategy to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we determined the viral dynamics and antibody responses among 143 asymptomatic individuals identified in a massive screening of more than 5 million people in eight districts of Wuhan in May 2020. Asymptomatic individuals were admitted to the government-designated centralized sites in accordance with policy. The incidence rate of asymptomatic infection is ~2.92/100,000. These individuals had low viral copy numbers (peaked at 315 copies/mL) and short-lived antibody responses with the estimated diminish time of 69 days. The antibody responses in individuals with persistent SARS-CoV-2 infection is much longer with the estimated diminish time of 257 days. These results imply that the immune responses in the asymptomatic individuals are not potent enough for preventing SARS-CoV-2 re-infection, which has recently been reported in recovered COVID-19 patients. This casts doubt on the efficacy of forming "herd-immunity" through natural SARS-CoV-2 infection and urges for the development of safe and effective vaccines.
. 2021 May 10;6(1):181.
doi: 10.1038/s41392-021-00596-2.
Viral dynamics and antibody responses in people with asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection
Zhiwei Sui[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 [/SUP], Xinhua Dai[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 [/SUP], Qingbin Lu[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 2 [/SUP], Yulan Zhang[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 3 4 [/SUP], Min Huang[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 5 [/SUP], Shufen Li[SUP] 3 4 [/SUP], Tao Peng[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jie Xie[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yongzhuo Zhang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Chunchen Wu[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Jianbo Xia[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Lianhua Dong[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jiayi Yang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Wenfeng Huang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Siyuan Liu[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ziquan Wang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ke Li[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Qingfang Yang[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Xi Zhou[SUP] 3 4 8 [/SUP], Ying Wu[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Wei Liu[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Xiang Fang[SUP] 11 [/SUP], Ke Peng[SUP] 12 13 14 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 33972497
- DOI: 10.1038/s41392-021-00596-2
Abstract
Over 40% of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) COVID-19 patients were asymptomatically infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the immune responses of these asymptomatic individuals is a critical factor for developing the strategy to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we determined the viral dynamics and antibody responses among 143 asymptomatic individuals identified in a massive screening of more than 5 million people in eight districts of Wuhan in May 2020. Asymptomatic individuals were admitted to the government-designated centralized sites in accordance with policy. The incidence rate of asymptomatic infection is ~2.92/100,000. These individuals had low viral copy numbers (peaked at 315 copies/mL) and short-lived antibody responses with the estimated diminish time of 69 days. The antibody responses in individuals with persistent SARS-CoV-2 infection is much longer with the estimated diminish time of 257 days. These results imply that the immune responses in the asymptomatic individuals are not potent enough for preventing SARS-CoV-2 re-infection, which has recently been reported in recovered COVID-19 patients. This casts doubt on the efficacy of forming "herd-immunity" through natural SARS-CoV-2 infection and urges for the development of safe and effective vaccines.