Combined Impact of Prior SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Vaccination on Antibody Presence

  1. Jennifer A Shuford
  2. Michael D Swartz
  3. David L Lakey
  4. Kimberly A Aguillard
  5. Stephen J Pont
  6. Melissa A Valerio-Shewmaker
  7. Eric Boerwinkle

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Abstract

As COVID-19 continues to spread rapidly and vaccine uptake stagnates, questions remain about the amount of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies present in the population induced by either SARS-CoV-2 infection, by a COVID-19 vaccine, or both.

The TEXAS C oronavirus A ntibody RE sponse S urvey (CARES) is a statewide seroprevalence program which utilizes the Roche S-test to detect antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and the Roche N-test to detect antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein, to monitor the combined impact of prior infection and the COVID-19 vaccine. The current sample size having both S- and N-test data and reported vaccination status is 8,846.

Participants with prior infection (i.e. N+) and with either partial or full vaccination have the highest proportion of those showing the maximum value of the S-test (80.95% and 83.07%, respectively). Using a permutation test, there is no statistically significant difference between the median S-test value for those that have had prior infection and are partially vaccinated versus those that have had prior infection and are fully vaccinated. These groups both show significantly higher median amount compared to the other three groups: N+/not vaccinated, N-/partially vaccinated, and N-/fully vaccinated (all p-values < 0.0001).

Unvaccinated individuals with prior infection have one of the lowest median S-test values. For participants with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection and a COVID-19 vaccine, the median S-test value is high and is not statistically different between those who are partially vaccinated and those who are fully vaccinated.

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  1. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.09.08.21263268: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Ethicsnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    After the launch of Texas CARES, an immunoassay for detection of antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (Roche S-test) became available and was added to the immunoassay for detection of antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein (Roche N-test), so that we are able to monitor the combined impact of prior infection and the COVID-19 vaccine.
    SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein
    suggested: None

    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.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  2. Version published to 10.1101/2021.09.08.21263268 on medRxiv