Antibody Persistence after Primary Sars-Cov-2 Infection and Protection Against Future Variants Including Omicron in Adolescents: National, Prospective Cohort Study

18 Pages Posted: 21 Apr 2022

See all articles by Felicity Aiano

Felicity Aiano

Government of the United Kingdom - Public Health England Colindale; UK Health Security Agency

Georgina Ireland

Public Health England

Frances Baawuah

Government of the United Kingdom - Public Health England Colindale

Joanne Beckmann

East London NHS Foundation Trust

Ifeanyichukwu Okike

Government of the United Kingdom - Public Health England Colindale

Shazaad Ahmad

The University of Manchester - Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Joanna Garstang

Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust

Andrew J. Brent

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Bernadette Brent

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Ray Borrow

Meningococcal Reference Unit, UK Health Security Agency; Manchester Royal Infirmary, Public Health England, Vaccine Evaluation Unit

Ezra Linley

Public Health England, Manchester Royal Infirmary

Sammy Ho

UK Health Security Agency

Christine Carr

UK Health Security Agency

Maria Zambon

Public Health England - Virus Reference Department

John Poh

Public Health England

Lenesha Warrener

Government of the United Kingdom - Public Health England

Gayatri Amirthalingam

Public Health England - Immunisation and Countermeasures Division

Kevin E. Brown

UK Health Security Agency

Mary E. Ramsay

Public Health England - Immunisation, Hepatitis, and Blood Safety Department

Katja Hoschler

Government of the United Kingdom - Public Health England Colindale

Shamez N. Ladhani

Government of the United Kingdom - Immunisation and Countermeasures Division; St. George’s University of London - Paediatric Infectious Diseases Research Group

Date Written: March 30, 2022

Abstract

We initiated enhanced surveillance in 18 secondary schools to monitor SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission in September 2020. Students and Staff provided longitudinal blood samples to test for variant-specific SARS-CoV-2 antibodies using in-house receptor binding domain assays. We recruited 1,189 students and 1,020 staff; 160 (97 students, 63 staff) were nucleocapsid-antibody positive at baseline and had sufficient serum for further analysis. Most participants developed sustained cross-protective antibodies against their infecting (wild-type, WT) alpha, beta and delta variants but at lower titres than WT. Staff had significantly lower antibodies titres against WT, alpha, beta and delta variants than students (all p<0.01). In participants with sufficient sera, only 2.3% (1/43) students and 17.2% (5/29) staff had omicron antibodies; they also had higher SARS-CoV-2 antibody titres against WT (3042.5; 95%CI: 769.0-12,036.2) than those who were omicron antibody-negative (680.7; 534.2-867.4). Infection with WT induced cross-protective antibodies against alpha, beta and delta variants, but not omicron.

Note:
Funding Information: This study was funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

Conflict of Interests: None declared.

Ethical Approval: The protocol was approved by PHE Research Ethics and Governance Group (reference NR0228; 24 August 2020).

Keywords: Antibody; SARS-CoV-2; School

Suggested Citation

Aiano, Felicity and Ireland, Georgina and Baawuah, Frances and Beckmann, Joanne and Okike, Ifeanyichukwu and Ahmad, Shazaad and Garstang, Joanna and Brent, Andrew J. and Brent, Bernadette and Borrow, Ray and Linley, Ezra and Ho, Sammy and Carr, Christine and Zambon, Maria and Poh, John and Warrener, Lenesha and Amirthalingam, Gayatri and Brown, Kevin E. and Ramsay, Mary E. and Hoschler, Katja and Ladhani, Shamez N., Antibody Persistence after Primary Sars-Cov-2 Infection and Protection Against Future Variants Including Omicron in Adolescents: National, Prospective Cohort Study (March 30, 2022). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4071576 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4071576

Felicity Aiano

Government of the United Kingdom - Public Health England Colindale ( email )

UK Health Security Agency ( email )

Georgina Ireland

Public Health England ( email )

Frances Baawuah

Government of the United Kingdom - Public Health England Colindale

61 Colindale Avenue
London, NW9 5EQ
United Kingdom

Joanne Beckmann

East London NHS Foundation Trust ( email )

Ifeanyichukwu Okike

Government of the United Kingdom - Public Health England Colindale

61 Colindale Avenue
London, NW9 5EQ
United Kingdom

Shazaad Ahmad

The University of Manchester - Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Oxford Road
Manchester, M13 9PL
United Kingdom

Joanna Garstang

Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust ( email )

Andrew J. Brent

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust ( email )

Bernadette Brent

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust ( email )

Ray Borrow

Meningococcal Reference Unit, UK Health Security Agency

Manchester Royal Infirmary, Public Health England, Vaccine Evaluation Unit

United Kingdom

Ezra Linley

Public Health England, Manchester Royal Infirmary ( email )

Sammy Ho

UK Health Security Agency

London
United Kingdom

Christine Carr

UK Health Security Agency

London
United Kingdom

Maria Zambon

Public Health England - Virus Reference Department ( email )

Wellington House
133-155 Waterloo Road
London, SE1 8UG
United Kingdom

John Poh

Public Health England ( email )

Lenesha Warrener

Government of the United Kingdom - Public Health England

Wellington House
133-155 Waterloo Road
London, SE1 8UG
United Kingdom

Gayatri Amirthalingam

Public Health England - Immunisation and Countermeasures Division ( email )

Wellington House
133-155 Waterloo Road
London, SE1 8UG
United Kingdom

Kevin E. Brown

UK Health Security Agency

London
United Kingdom

Mary E. Ramsay

Public Health England - Immunisation, Hepatitis, and Blood Safety Department ( email )

United Kingdom

Katja Hoschler

Government of the United Kingdom - Public Health England Colindale

61 Colindale Avenue
London, NW9 5EQ
United Kingdom

Shamez N. Ladhani (Contact Author)

Government of the United Kingdom - Immunisation and Countermeasures Division ( email )

61 Colindale Avenue
London, NW9 5EQ
United Kingdom

St. George’s University of London - Paediatric Infectious Diseases Research Group

London
United Kingdom

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