Researchers identify immunological markers for SARS-CoV-2 reinfection


Date:
January 25, 2022
Source:
American Society for Microbiology
Summary:
Tracking new hotspots of SARS-CoV-2 will become more important
as the virus evolves and becomes endemic. New variants may be
more contagious than previous ones -- and escape vaccines. Serum
biomarkers, identified in rhesus macaques, can differentiate between
primary infection and reinfection. A tool utilizing these biomarkers
may help identify surges in reinfection, scientists noted.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
Many experts now predict that COVID-19, which so far has killed more than
5.5 million people worldwide, will remain endemic as new, infectious
variants of SARS-CoV-2 emerge. These new variants could pose a greater
risk of reinfection -- infecting people who have already had COVID19 --
than previous ones. The rapid identification of reinfection cases and
surges could improve public health responses and reveal variants that
escape the protection offered by vaccination.


==========================================================================
A study published this week in mBio,by collaborators from the Broad
Institute, MIT, Harvard Medical School, and the company SpaceX,suggests
a way to keep track of those cases. In the work, a multi-institutional
group of researchers have identified immunological blood biomarkers that correspond to reinfection and re-exposure to the virus.

"In the setting of waning natural and vaccine immunity, reinfections
have emerged across the globe, even amongst previously infected and
vaccinated individuals," noted the immunologists, virologists, biologists,
and others who worked on the study.

Previous studies have reported that rhesus macaques have a clinical
response to SARS-CoV-2 infection similar to that of humans. For the
new study, the researchers studied a group of rhesus macaques that had previously been infected with the virus. They exposed the primates to a different variant of the virus -- at varying doses -- and collected blood samples before and after both the original infection and the rechallenge.

Notably, analyses of the blood samples revealed distinct biomarkers of reinfection. Those included increased levels of immunoglobulin antibodies
that bind to the Spike protein, nucleocapsid protein, or other parts of
the virus particle. Animals exposed to higher doses of the virus showed
higher SARS-CoV- 2 immunoglobulin responses.

The authors reported that those immunological features differentiated
primary infection from re-exposure and reinfection in the macaques. The researchers then analyzed blood samples from a small group of humans who
were participating in a community-based surveillance cohort at SpaceX and
had been reinfected with the coronavirus. The study on humans confirmed
the findings from the one on macaques.

Simple, inexpensive, and widely accessible surveillance tools are
needed to identify new hotspots of infection, the authors noted. The
new work, they added, shows how simple titers might be used as readily available markers of reinfection. "Our ability to monitor and control
both infection and reinfection hinges on the development of simple, immunologically sound screening strategies," they wrote.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
American_Society_for_Microbiology. Note: Content may be edited for style
and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Sameed M. Siddiqui, Kathryn A. Bowman, Alex L. Zhu, Stephanie
Fischinger,
Samuel Beger, Jenny S. Maron, Yannic C. Bartsch, Caroline
Atyeo, Matthew J. Gorman, Ahmad Yanis, Judd F. Hultquist, Ramon
Lorenzo-Redondo, Egon A.

Ozer, Lacy M. Simons, Rana Talj, Danielle A. Rankin, Lindsay
Chapman, Kyle Meade, Jordan Steinhart, Sean Mullane, Suzanne
Siebert, Hendrik Streeck, Pardis Sabeti, Natasha Halasa, Elon
R. Musk, Dan H. Barouch, Anil S. Menon, Eric J. Nilles, Douglas
A. Lauffenburger, Galit Alter.

Serological Markers of SARS-CoV-2 Reinfection. mBio, 2022; DOI:
10.1128/ mBio.02141-21 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220125093012.htm

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