SARS-CoV-2 Infection Is Asymptomatic in Nearly Half of Adults with Robust Anti-Spike Protein Receptor-Binding Domain Antibody Response
Open Access
- 2 March 2021
- Vol. 9 (3), 207
- https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9030207
Abstract
Between June and November 2020, we assessed plasma antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleocapsid protein in 4996 participants (aged 18–82 years, 34.5% men) from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The weighted overall prevalence was 1.6% and monthly prevalence correlated with viral RNA-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections in Greece, in the same period. Notably, 49% of seropositive cases reported no history of SARS-CoV-2 infection-related clinical symptoms and 33% were unsuspected of their previous infection. Additionally, levels of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies against the spike-protein receptor-binding domain were similar between symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals, irrespective of age and gender. Using Food and Drug Administration Emergency Use Authorization-approved assays, these results support the need for such studies on pandemic evaluation and highlight the development of robust humoral immune responses even among asymptomatic individuals. The high percentage of unsuspected/asymptomatic active cases, which may contribute to community transmission for more days than that of cases who are aware and self-isolate, underscores the necessity of measures across the population for the efficient control of the pandemic.This publication has 29 references indexed in Scilit:
- Orthogonal SARS-CoV-2 Serological Assays Enable Surveillance of Low-Prevalence Communities and Reveal Durable Humoral ImmunityImmunity, 2020
- Loss of Anti–SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Mild Covid-19The New England Journal of Medicine, 2020
- Occurrence and transmission potential of asymptomatic and presymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections: A living systematic review and meta-analysisPLoS Medicine, 2020
- Seroprevalence of Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 among the Personnel and Students of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece: A Preliminary ReportLife, 2020
- The contribution of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections to transmission on the Diamond Princess cruise shipeLife, 2020
- Seroprevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 among health care workers in a large Spanish reference hospitalNature Communications, 2020
- Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in Spain (ENE-COVID): a nationwide, population-based seroepidemiological studyThe Lancet, 2020
- Suppression of a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in the Italian municipality of Vo’Nature, 2020
- Kinetics and isotype assessment of antibodies targeting the spike protein receptor-binding domain of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 in COVID-19 patients as a function of age, biological sex and disease severityClinical & Translational Immunology, 2019