Epidemiology, immunology, and evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

Effect of sequential exposure on breadth of immunity to SARS-CoV-2 variants. The rapid emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants challenges vaccination strategies. We collected 201 serum samples from persons with a single infection or multiple vaccine exposures, or both. We measured their neutralization titers against 15 natural variants and 7 variants with engineered spike mutations and analyzed antigenic diversity. Antigenic maps of primary infection sera showed that Omicron sublineages BA.2, BA.4/BA.5, and BA.2.12.1 are distinct from BA.1 and more similar to Beta/Gamma/Mu variants. Three mRNA COVID-19 vaccinations increased neutralization of BA.1 more than BA.4/BA.5 or BA.2.12.1. BA.1 post-vaccination infection elicited higher neutralization titers to all variants than three vaccinations alone, although with less neutralization to BA.2.12.1 and BA.4/BA.5. Those with BA.1 infection after two or three vaccinations had similar neutralization titer magnitude and antigenic recognition. Accounting for antigenic differences among variants when interpreting neutralization titers can aid the understanding of complex patterns in humoral immunity that informs the selection of future COVID-19 vaccine strains (Wang et al. Cell Host Microbe 2022). Immunity to endemic coronaviruses and SARS-CoV-2 before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in children in Cebu, Philippines. NIAID and University of the Philippines Manila are collaborating to study SARS-CoV-2 and endemic coronavirus seroprevalence in children in the Central Visayas Region in the Philippines participating in a longitudinal dengue cohort study of children 12-17 years of age. This cohort provides a unique opportunity to interrogate immunity induced by endemic coronaviruses prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (late 2019/early 2020) and follow the same children over the course of the pandemic (2020, 2021, 2022).