SARS-CoV-2 antibody persistence after five and twelve months: A cohort study from South-Eastern Norway
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Abstract
To assess total antibody levels against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus 2 (SARS CoV-2) spike protein up to 12 months after Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) infection in non-vaccinated individuals and the possible predictors of antibody persistence.
Methods
This is the first part of a prospective multi-centre cohort study.
Participants
The study included SARS-CoV-2 real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) positive and negative participants in South-Eastern Norway from February to December 2020. Possible predictors of SARS-CoV-2 total antibody persistence was assessed. The SARS-CoV-2 total antibody levels against spike protein were measured three to five months after PCR in 391 PCR-positive and 703 PCR-negative participants; 212 PCR-positive participants were included in follow-up measurements at 10 to 12 months. The participants completed a questionnaire including information about symptoms, comorbidities, allergies, body mass index (BMI), and hospitalisation.
Primary outcome
The SARS-CoV-2 total antibody levels against spike protein three to five and 10 to 12 months after PCR positive tests.
Results
SARS-CoV-2 total antibodies against spike protein were present in 366 (94%) non-vaccinated PCR-positive participants after three to five months, compared with nine (1%) PCR-negative participants. After 10 to 12 months, antibodies were present in 204 (96%) non-vaccinated PCR-positive participants. Of the PCR-positive participants, 369 (94%) were not hospitalised. The mean age of the PCR-positive participants was 48 years (SD 15, range 20–85) and 50% of them were male. BMI ≥ 25 kg/m 2 was positively associated with decreased antibody levels (OR 2.34, 95% CI 1.06 to 5.42). Participants with higher age and self-reported initial fever with chills or sweating were less likely to have decreased antibody levels (age: OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.94 to 0.99; fever: OR 0.33, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.75).
Conclusion
Our results indicate that the level of SARS-CoV-2 total antibodies against spike protein persists for the vast majority of non-vaccinated PCR-positive persons at least 10 to 12 months after mild COVID-19.
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SciScore for 10.1101/2022.02.16.22271075: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Ethics Consent: Ethics approval and consent to participate: All participants provided written informed consent before inclusion.
IRB: The Study was approved by the Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics of South East Norway A (ID 146469), the Norwegian Centre for Research Data (NSD), and the Data Protection Officers in the participating hospitals.Sex as a biological variable not detected. Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Table 2: Resources
Antibodies Sentences Resources To make it possible to interpret changes in antibody levels, antibody levels were categorised into four categories: negative (0-0.79), low (0.80-1.99), intermediate (2.00-9.99), … SciScore for 10.1101/2022.02.16.22271075: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Ethics Consent: Ethics approval and consent to participate: All participants provided written informed consent before inclusion.
IRB: The Study was approved by the Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics of South East Norway A (ID 146469), the Norwegian Centre for Research Data (NSD), and the Data Protection Officers in the participating hospitals.Sex as a biological variable not detected. Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Table 2: Resources
Antibodies Sentences Resources To make it possible to interpret changes in antibody levels, antibody levels were categorised into four categories: negative (0-0.79), low (0.80-1.99), intermediate (2.00-9.99), and high (≥10). 2.00-9.99suggested: (Creative Diagnostics Cat# DCABH-200999, RRID:AB_2494402)Software and Algorithms Sentences Resources To reduce the possibility of false positive results, low antibody levels between 0.80 and 1.99 Index value were reanalyzed at St. Olavs Hospital in Trondheim using the Elecsys Cobas SARS-CoV-2 total antibody test (Roche) and BioPlex 2200 SARS-CoV-2 IgG Panel (Bio-Rad). BioPlexsuggested: (BioPlex, RRID:SCR_016144)The analyses were performed with IBM SPSS 27 for Windows (IBM Corp. SPSSsuggested: (SPSS, RRID:SCR_002865)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: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:Our study has several strengths and limitations. A strength of our study is the relatively large and unselected study cohort recruited during the first and second pandemic waves in Norway. The time for the antibody test was related to the PCR test, and not the onset of symptoms. Another strength is the longitudinal design with a relatively long follow-up time. Validated serology assays were used, and the participants answered the questionnaire on the same day as the serum sampling. A limitation of our study is that changes in antibody levels above the assay’s upper limit value 10 Index could not be determined, but it is probably in the group with low antibody levels that significant changes will appear. Direct comparison of the current study’s results with those of other studies is difficult because assays targeting different antigens are used in the available studies [10]. Further, differences in study populations, severity of illness, and frequency of antibody sampling make comparisons across studies challenging [31]. In our study, the same assay was used for all participants and as a quality control, all PCR-participants with detectable antibodies and all PCR+ participants with low levels of antibodies were retested with a second assay. Using two different assays was considered useful in low seroprevalence countries like Norway because of the possibility of false-positive tests [14]. The use of a self-reported questionnaire may be considered a limitation of the study becau...
Results from TrialIdentifier: We found the following clinical trial numbers in your paper:
Identifier Status Title NCT04514003 Recruiting The Corona and COVID-19 Study in Telemark and Agder 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.
- Thank you for including a protocol registration statement.
Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.
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