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Groh AM, Vehreschild MJGT, Diaz D, Kuchta AL, Dodoo C, Alvarado LA, Parkin NT, Robbins EM, Moonsamy P, Toptan T, Ciesek S, Berger A. Kinetics of SARS-CoV-2 infection biomarkers in a household transmission study. Sci Rep 2024; 14:12365. [PMID: 38811590 PMCID: PMC11136983 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-62835-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 05/22/2024] [Indexed: 05/31/2024] Open
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of COVID-19. Timely and accurate diagnostic testing is vital to contain the spread of infection, reduce delays in treatment and care, and inform patient management. Optimal specimen type (e.g. nasal swabs or saliva), timing of sampling, viral marker assayed (RNA or antigen), and correlation with viral infectivity and COVID-19 symptoms severity remain incompletely defined. We conducted a field study to evaluate SARS-CoV-2 viral marker kinetics starting from very early times after infection. We measured RNA and antigen levels in nasal swabs and saliva, virus outgrowth in cell culture from nasal swabs, and antibody levels in blood in a cohort of 30 households. Nine household contacts (HHC) became infected with SARS-CoV-2 during the study. Viral RNA was detected in saliva specimens approximately 1-2 days before nasal swabs in six HHC. Detection of RNA was more sensitive than of antigen, but antigen detection was better correlated with culture positivity, a proxy for contagiousness. Anti-nucleocapsid antibodies peaked one to three weeks post-infection. Viral RNA and antigen levels were higher in specimens yielding replication competent virus in cell culture. This study provides important data that can inform how to optimally interpret SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic test results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana M Groh
- Goethe University Frankfurt, University Hospital Frankfurt, Department 2 of Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Maria J G T Vehreschild
- Goethe University Frankfurt, University Hospital Frankfurt, Department 2 of Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Damian Diaz
- Goethe University Frankfurt, University Hospital Frankfurt, Department 2 of Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | | | | | - Luis A Alvarado
- Roche Molecular Systems, Pleasanton, CA, USA
- EP Statistical Consulting, LLC, El Paso, TX, USA
| | | | | | | | - Tuna Toptan
- Institute of Medical Virology, Goethe University Frankfurt, University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Sandra Ciesek
- Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Institute of Medical Virology, Goethe University Frankfurt, University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Annemarie Berger
- Institute of Medical Virology, Goethe University Frankfurt, University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
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Aijaz J, Kanani F, Naseer F. Utility of Roche Elecsys anti-SARS-CoV-2 S in ascertaining post-vaccine neutralizing antibodies. JOURNAL OF CLINICAL VIROLOGY PLUS 2023; 3:100137. [PMID: 36644775 PMCID: PMC9832685 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcvp.2023.100137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2022] [Revised: 12/18/2022] [Accepted: 01/10/2023] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
With widespread global COVID-19 vaccine coverage, a scalable, cost-effective, and standardized tool to ascertain post-vaccine immunity is a dire need. Neither clinical evaluations of vaccine efficacy, nor live virus antibody neutralization assays fulfill these criteria. Commercially available anti-S binding immunological assays have the potential to fill this gap, but need to be systematically evaluated for their utility to serve as surrogates for the aforementioned, widely accepted tools of determining vaccine efficacy. In this study, we evaluated an anti-S binding immunological assay (Roche Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 S) by utilizing two hundred and fifty-five archived serum specimens, either pre-pandemic, or those exposed to natural infections or vaccines with their neutralizing titers pre-determined through a live virus, pseudotyped antibody neutralization assay. Roche Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 S demonstrated good sensitivity (98%) and specificity (99%), just as has been reported in some other previously conducted studies using this assay. Only a mild correlation, however, with the live virus pseudotyped lentivirus antibody neutralization assay (Spearman's r = 0.26) was observed. We conclude that, as such, Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 S has a high sensitivity and specificity for detecting anti-SARS-CoV-2 S proteins, though the assay does not always correlate well with live virus assays for quantitative outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javeria Aijaz
- Molecular Biology Section, Pathology Department, Indus Hospital and Health Network, Plot C-76, Sector 31/5, Opposite، Crossing، Darussalam Society Sector 39 Korangi, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan,Corresponding author
| | - Fatima Kanani
- Chemical Pathology Section, Pathology Department, Indus Hospital & Health Network, Karachi, Pakistan
| | - Fouzia Naseer
- Molecular Biology Section, Pathology Department, Indus Hospital and Health Network, Plot C-76, Sector 31/5, Opposite، Crossing، Darussalam Society Sector 39 Korangi, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
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First Detection of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.5/22B in Monaco. Microorganisms 2022; 10:microorganisms10101952. [PMID: 36296228 PMCID: PMC9607325 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms10101952] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2022] [Revised: 09/17/2022] [Accepted: 09/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
The Omicron BA.5/22B variant has been designated as a "variant of concern" by the World Health Organization. We describe, here, the first evidence in Monaco of infection with an Omicron BA.5/22B variant, probably imported from the Republic of Seychelles, harboring a rare combination of non-BA.5/22B signature amino acid changes. SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies were measured with a surrogate virus neutralization test. SARS-CoV-2 genotype screening was performed on nasopharyngeal samples with a multiplex qPCR assay. The SARS-CoV-2 genome was obtained by next-generation sequencing with the Illumina COVID-seq protocol, then assembly using bioinformatics pipelines and software was performed. The BA.5/22B spike protein structure was obtained by molecular modeling. Two spouses were SARS-CoV-2-diagnosed the day they returned from a one-week trip in the Republic of Seychelles. SARS-CoV-2 qPCR screening for variant-specific mutations identified an Omicron variant BA.1/21K, BA.4/22A, or BA.5/22B. A SARS-Co-2 BA.5/22B variant genome was recovered from one of the spouses. Aside from BA.5/22B-defining amino acid substitutions, four other amino acid changes were encoded including Q556K in ORF1a, K2557R in ORF1b, and A67V and A829T in spike; only 13 genomes in sequence databases harbored these four mutations concurrently. Structural analysis of this BA.5/22B variant predicted that A829T in spike may result in a compaction that may affect conformational plasticity. Overall, our findings warrant performing genome-based genotypic surveillance to survey accurately the emergence and circulation of SARS-CoV-2 variants worldwide and point out that their first occurrence in a country is often through international travel despite implemented countermeasures.
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