Patterns and persistence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in Chicago to monitor COVID-19 exposure
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Abstract
Estimates of seroprevalence to SARS-CoV-2 vary widely and may influence vaccination response. We ascertained IgG levels across a single US metropolitan site, Chicago, from June 2020 through December 2020.
METHODS
Participants ( n = 7935) were recruited through electronic advertising and received materials for a self-sampled dried-blood spot assay through the mail or a minimal contact in-person method. IgG against the receptor-binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 was measured using an established highly sensitive and highly specific assay.
RESULTS
Overall seroprevalence was 17.9%, with no significant difference between method of contact. Only 2.5% of participants reported having had a diagnosis of COVID-19 based on virus detection, consistent with a 7-fold greater exposure to SARS-CoV-2 measured by serology than that detected by viral testing. The range of IgG level observed in seropositive participants from this community survey overlapped with the range of IgG levels associated with COVID-19 cases having a documented positive PCR test. From a subset of those who participated in repeat testing, half of seropositive individuals retained detectable antibodies for 3 to 4 months.
CONCLUSION
Quantitative IgG measurements with a highly specific and sensitive assay indicated more widespread exposure to SARS-CoV-2 than observed by viral testing. The range of IgG concentrations produced from these asymptomatic exposures was similar to IgG levels occurring after documented nonhospitalized COVID-19, which were considerably lower than those produced from hospitalized COVID-19 cases. The differing ranges of IgG response, coupled with the rate of decay of antibodies, may influence response to subsequent viral exposure and vaccine.
Funding
National Science Foundation grant 2035114, NIH grant 3UL1TR001422-06S4, NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences grants UL1 TR001422 and UL1 TR002389, Dixon Family Foundation, Northwestern University Cancer Center (NIH grant P30 CA060553), and Walder Foundation’s Chicago Coronavirus Assessment Network.
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SciScore for 10.1101/2020.11.17.20233452: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Institutional Review Board Statement IRB: Study approvals: All research activities were implemented under protocols approved by the institutional review board at Northwestern University (#STU00206652, #STU00212371, #STU00212457, #STU00212472, and STU00212515). Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Sex as a biological variable not detected. Table 2: Resources
Antibodies Sentences Resources Results were normalized to the CR3022 antibody with known affinity (18). CR3022suggested: NoneSoftware and Algorithms Sentences Resources Statistical Analysis: Statistical analyses were performed with Prism (GraphPad, La Jolla, CA) or R 4.2 (The R Foundation for Statistical Computing, … SciScore for 10.1101/2020.11.17.20233452: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Institutional Review Board Statement IRB: Study approvals: All research activities were implemented under protocols approved by the institutional review board at Northwestern University (#STU00206652, #STU00212371, #STU00212457, #STU00212472, and STU00212515). Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Sex as a biological variable not detected. Table 2: Resources
Antibodies Sentences Resources Results were normalized to the CR3022 antibody with known affinity (18). CR3022suggested: NoneSoftware and Algorithms Sentences Resources Statistical Analysis: Statistical analyses were performed with Prism (GraphPad, La Jolla, CA) or R 4.2 (The R Foundation for Statistical Computing, http://www.R-project.org). Prismsuggested: (PRISM, RRID:SCR_005375)GraphPadsuggested: (GraphPad Prism, RRID:SCR_002798)Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).
Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.
Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.
Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.
Results from rtransparent:- Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- No protocol registration statement was detected.
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