The contributions of vaccination and natural infection to the production of neutralizing antibodies against the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) prototype strain and variants

Hui Xie; Junnan Zhang; Shuang Bai; Min Lv; Juan Li; Weixin Chen; Luodan Suo; Meng Chen; Wei Zhao; Shanshan Zhou; Jian Wang; Ao Zhang; Jianxin Ma; Fengshuang Wang; Le Yan; Dongmei Li; Jiang Wu

doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2024.107060

The contributions of vaccination and natural infection to the production of neutralizing antibodies against the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) prototype strain and variants

Int J Infect Dis. 2024 Apr 24:107060. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2024.107060. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Hui Xie¹, Junnan Zhang¹, Shuang Bai¹, Min Lv¹, Juan Li¹, Weixin Chen¹, Luodan Suo¹, Meng Chen¹, Wei Zhao¹, Shanshan Zhou¹, Jian Wang¹, Ao Zhang¹, Jianxin Ma², Fengshuang Wang³, Le Yan⁴, Dongmei Li⁵, Jiang Wu⁶

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Immunization and Prevention, Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Beijing Academy for Preventive Medicine, Beijing Institute of Tuberculosis Control Research and Prevention, Beijing, 100013, China.
² Chaoyang District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.
³ Shunyi District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.
⁴ Huairou District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.
⁵ Daxing District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.
⁶ Institute for Immunization and Prevention, Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Beijing Academy for Preventive Medicine, Beijing Institute of Tuberculosis Control Research and Prevention, Beijing, 100013, China. Electronic address: wj81732@hotmail.com.

PMID: 38670482
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2024.107060

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the neutralizing antibody (NAbs) levels against the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants BF.7, BQ.1, BQ.1.1, XBB.1, and XBB.1.5 after vaccination and natural infection.

Methods: The NAbs against the different viral strains of 490 SARS-CoV-2 infected and 187 uninfected individuals in Beijing COVID-19 outbreak during December 2022 to January 2023 were analyzed.

Results: In uninfected individuals, limited levels of NAbs were produced against both the prototype and variant strains after two doses vaccine, but significantly increased after three or four doses vaccine. The infected individuals had high NAbs levels against the BF.7, BQ.1, and BQ.1.1 variants and moderate NAbs levels against the XBB.1 and XBB.1.5 variants. The highest NAbs levels were observed after two inoculation doses. The third and fourth doses vaccine did not result in a significant increase the NAbs levels. After the last dose of vaccination, the NAbs levels peaked at 12 months for the prototype and BF.7 and between 6 to 12 months for the BQ.1, BQ.1.1, XBB.1, and XBB.1.5 variants.

Conclusion: The immune response decreases as the virus mutates. If booster vaccination is considered necessary, it is suggested for at least 6 months after infection.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; natural infection; neutralizing antibody; vaccination; variants.