Neutralizing antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor-binding domain 13 months after the recovery from the disease.

BACKGROUND: Information regarding the kinetics and longevity of acquired immunity in recovered COVID-19 patients requires thorough analysis and documentation. This is an update to an ongoing monocentric pilot observational study, that longitudinally analyzed the presence of antibodies after SARS-CoV-2 infection. STUDY DESIGN: Antibody titers against nucleocapsid protein (NCP) of SARS-CoV-2 analyzed at 8 months was followed by adoption of a more specific immunoassay, anti-Spike-Receptor binding domain IgG CLIA for analysis at 12 and 13 months post infection. METHODS: MAGLUMI® SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD IgG Chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) was adopted for measurement of antibody titres at 12 and 13 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection. RESULTS: 97% (34 out of 35) patients resulted positive for anti-SARS-CoV-2 RBD IgG at 12 and 13 months. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: In areas with vaccine and resource scarcity, vaccination could be prioritized for those individuals who have never been infected or for the ones who have recovered but show the absence of protective antibodies.

Neutralizing antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor-binding domain 13 months after the recovery from the disease

Background: Information regarding the kinetics and longevity of acquired immunity in recovered COVID-19 patients requires thorough analysis and documentation. This is an update to an ongoing monocentric pilot observational study, that longitudinally analyzed the presence of antibodies after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Study design: Antibody titers against nucleocapsid protein (NCP) of SARS-CoV-2 analyzed at 8 months was followed by adoption of a more specific immunoassay, anti-Spike-Receptor binding domain IgG CLIA for analysis at 12 and 13 months post infection. Methods: MAGLUMI R SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD IgG Chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) was adopted for measurement of antibody titres at 12 and 13 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Results: 97% (34 out of 35) patients resulted positive for anti-SARS-CoV-2 RBD IgG at 12 and 13 months. Discussion and Conclusions: In areas with vaccine and resource scarcity, vaccination could be prioritized for those individuals who have never been infected or for the ones who have recovered but show the absence of protective antibodies.

Antibody persistency and trend post-SARS-CoV-2 infection at eight months.

Introduction: A large amount of recent research has focused on the nature of immunity elicited by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, particularly its robustness and the duration of protection it offers. As a vaccine's efficacy relies on its ability to induce a protective immune response, these questions remain particularly pertinent. An improved understanding of the immunity offered by the antibodies developed against SARS-CoV-2 in recovered patients is critical for the development of diagnostic tests and vaccines. Methods: Our study aimed at the longitudinal analysis of antibody presence, persistence and its trend over eight months in a group of 30 COVID-19 recovered patients who tested positive by real-time quantitative PCR for SARS-CoV-2 in the period 1-30 March 2020. The subjects were divided into two groups based on disease severity: mild (n=17 subjects) and moderately-severe (n=13 subjects). The MAGLUMI 2019-nCoV lgM/lgG chemiluminescent analytical system (CLIA) assay was used to analyze these antibody titres. Results: IgG antibody persistency was demonstrated in 76.7 % of the subjects (23 out of 30) at eight months post-infection. For the moderately-severe group, the titre trends for both IgM and IgG changed in a statistically significant way throughout the time period with IgM below and IgG above the set cut-off. Conclusions: The results of this study highlight an important point in terms of the association between humoral immune response and disease severity. Patients who have experienced a relatively severe infection might develop a stronger immune response that could persist for a longer period.

Surgical activity in the COV1D-19 era: trend of slowdown from a multicentre observational study

Introduction: COVID-19 outbreak represented an unprecedented event that led to a redefinition of health care systems worldwide. The impact of the emergency required a deviation of the care toward the assistance to COVID-19 patients, with reduction of resources for elective activities, including surgery. We aim to report the decrease of urological surgical activity during the first weeks from the beginning of the pandemic, aiming to highlight the prioritization we applied to select patients for surgery. Materials and methods: Thirty-three urological units with physicians affiliated to the AGILE group were involved in a survey. Urologists were asked to report the amount of surgical elective procedures week- by-week, from the beginning of the emergency to the following month. The type of surgery (oncologic, for urolithiasis, for benign prostate obstruction, other) was assessed as well. Results: The 33 hospitals involved in the study account, globally, for 22,945 beds and are distributed in 13/20 Italian regions. Before the outbreak, the involved urology units performed an overall amount of 1,213 procedures per week, half of which were oncological. By the 20 of March, the amount of surgery declined by 78%. Lombardy, the first region with positive-cases, experienced a 94% reduction. The decrease in oncological and non- oncological surgical activity was 35,9% and 89%, respectively. Among non-oncological procedures, stone surgery declined by 35,9% as well, whereas BPH and minor urological procedures completely dropped. Reassessing for surgical activity on 20, April, a slight trend toward surgical restoration (+11%) started to appear. Conclusions: Italy, the country with the highest fatality rate from COVID-19, had experienced a sudden decline in surgical activity;by the end of April, a current trend toward restoration of surgery started to appear. Criteria for prioritization were consistent with an urgent/ emergent principle, with trauma, tumours and septic conditions being the ones prioritized. The Italian experience can be helpful for future surgical pre-planning in other countries or pandemic settings. Smart Communications (SC1–SC28) Andrology