A new study led by Gemma D. Banham of the University of Birmingham’s College of Medical and Dental Sciences describes the evolution of antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in a cohort of 990 patients.
Patients on hemodialysis who survived SARS-CoV-2 infection developed and maintained antibodies, resulting in a lower risk of reinfection compared to patients who had not previously been infected.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections have a devastating effect on patients receiving hemodialysis. To what extent infection-induced antibody responses are maintained, or protective, is unknown
said the lead researcher.
This study describes the evolution of antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in a cohort of 990 patients on hemodialysis.
During the first wave of the pandemic (March to July 2020), researchers discovered that 26 percent of patients developed antispike SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, and 75.9 percent of these patients remained antibody positive for a median of 124 days after infection.
The researchers observed fewer PCR-confirmed infections in patients with preexisting antibodies than in those without antibodies during the second wave (defined as October 2020 to January 2021). (4.2 percent vs. 11.4 percent, conferring a risk ratio of 0.37).
Antibody status made no difference in terms of symptomatology, hospitalization, or death.
In conclusion, patients on hemodialysis who survive SARS-CoV-2 infection generate an antibody response that is well maintained and appears to be associated with a reduced frequency of reinfection
concoluded the authors.
Given patients with lower responses may be at increased risk of reinfection, the capacity of antivaccine antibody responses to protect patients on hemodialysis should be closely monitored to determine efficacy.
Image Credit: GEtty