TY - JOUR

T1 - Nucleocapsid and spike antibody responses following virologically confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection

T2 - an observational analysis in the Virus Watch community cohort

AU - Navaratnam, Annalan M.D.

AU - Shrotri, Madhumita

AU - Nguyen, Vincent

AU - Braithwaite, Isobel

AU - Beale, Sarah

AU - Byrne, Thomas E.

AU - Fong, Wing Lam Erica

AU - Fragaszy, Ellen

AU - Geismar, Cyril

AU - Hoskins, Susan

AU - Kovar, Jana

AU - Patel, Parth

AU - Yavlinsky, Alexei

AU - Aryee, Anna

AU - Rodger, Alison

AU - Hayward, Andrew C.

AU - Aldridge, Robert W.

AU - Michie, Susan

AU - Hardelid, Pia

AU - Wijlaars, Linda

AU - Nastouli, Eleni

AU - Spyer, Moira

AU - Killingley, Ben

AU - Cox, Ingemar

AU - Lampos, Vasileios

AU - McKendry, Rachel A.

AU - Cheng, Tao

AU - Liu, Yunzhe

AU - Gibbs, Jo

AU - Gilson, Richard

AU - Johnson, Anne M.

AU - Virus Watch Collaborative

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s)

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Objectives: Seroprevalence studies can provide a measure of SARS-CoV-2 cumulative incidence, but a better understanding of spike and nucleocapsid (anti-N) antibody dynamics following infection is needed to assess the longevity of detectability. Methods: Adults aged ≥18 years, from households enrolled in the Virus Watch prospective community cohort study in England and Wales, provided monthly capillary blood samples, which were tested for spike antibody and anti-N. Participants self-reported vaccination dates and past medical history. Previous polymerase chain reaction (PCR) swabs were obtained through Second Generation Surveillance System linkage data. The primary outcome variables were seropositivity and total anti-N and spike antibody levels after PCR-confirmed infection. Results: A total of 13,802 eligible individuals provided 58,770 capillary blood samples. A total of 537 of these had a previous positive PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection within 0-269 days of antibody sample date, among them 432 (80.45%) having a positive anti-N result. Median anti-N levels peaked between days 90 and 119 after PCR results and then began to decline. There is evidence of anti-N waning from 120 days onwards, with earlier waning for females and younger age categories. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that anti-N has around 80% sensitivity for identifying previous COVID-19 infection, and the duration of detectability is affected by sex and age.

AB - Objectives: Seroprevalence studies can provide a measure of SARS-CoV-2 cumulative incidence, but a better understanding of spike and nucleocapsid (anti-N) antibody dynamics following infection is needed to assess the longevity of detectability. Methods: Adults aged ≥18 years, from households enrolled in the Virus Watch prospective community cohort study in England and Wales, provided monthly capillary blood samples, which were tested for spike antibody and anti-N. Participants self-reported vaccination dates and past medical history. Previous polymerase chain reaction (PCR) swabs were obtained through Second Generation Surveillance System linkage data. The primary outcome variables were seropositivity and total anti-N and spike antibody levels after PCR-confirmed infection. Results: A total of 13,802 eligible individuals provided 58,770 capillary blood samples. A total of 537 of these had a previous positive PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection within 0-269 days of antibody sample date, among them 432 (80.45%) having a positive anti-N result. Median anti-N levels peaked between days 90 and 119 after PCR results and then began to decline. There is evidence of anti-N waning from 120 days onwards, with earlier waning for females and younger age categories. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that anti-N has around 80% sensitivity for identifying previous COVID-19 infection, and the duration of detectability is affected by sex and age.

KW - Anti-N

KW - Anti-S

KW - Corona virus

KW - COVID-19

KW - Serosurveillance

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85137082065&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.ijid.2022.07.053

DO - 10.1016/j.ijid.2022.07.053

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 35987470

AN - SCOPUS:85137082065

VL - 123

SP - 104

EP - 111

JO - International Journal of Infectious Diseases

JF - International Journal of Infectious Diseases

SN - 1201-9712

ER -