[PDF][PDF] SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections elicit potent, broad, and durable neutralizing antibody responses

AC Walls, KR Sprouse, JE Bowen, A Joshi, N Franko… - Cell, 2022 - cell.com
AC Walls, KR Sprouse, JE Bowen, A Joshi, N Franko, MJ Navarro, C Stewart, E Cameroni…
Cell, 2022cell.com
Although infections among vaccinated individuals lead to milder COVID-19 symptoms
relative to those in unvaccinated subjects, the specificity and durability of antibody
responses elicited by breakthrough cases remain unknown. Here, we demonstrate that
breakthrough infections induce serum-binding and-neutralizing antibody responses that are
markedly more potent, durable, and resilient to spike mutations observed in variants than
those in subjects who received only 2 doses of vaccine. However, we show that …
Summary
Although infections among vaccinated individuals lead to milder COVID-19 symptoms relative to those in unvaccinated subjects, the specificity and durability of antibody responses elicited by breakthrough cases remain unknown. Here, we demonstrate that breakthrough infections induce serum-binding and -neutralizing antibody responses that are markedly more potent, durable, and resilient to spike mutations observed in variants than those in subjects who received only 2 doses of vaccine. However, we show that breakthrough cases, subjects who were vaccinated after infection, and individuals vaccinated three times have serum-neutralizing activity of comparable magnitude and breadth, indicating that an increased number of exposures to SARS-CoV-2 antigen(s) enhance the quality of antibody responses. Neutralization of SARS-CoV was moderate, however, underscoring the importance of developing vaccines eliciting broad sarbecovirus immunity for pandemic preparedness.
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