ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: In this period when mutant strains are increasing all over the world, studies on how much humoral immunity will protect against the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are quite limited. The aim of our study is to investigate the positivity and antibody levels of the COVID-19 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test, the frequency of SARS-CoV-2 re-infection, and the protective antibody level against re-infection. METHODS: Patients who were positive for COVID-19 IgG antibody between 1 July and 31 August were included in our study. The COVID-19 RT-PCR test positivity, age, gender and comorbidities of these patients were recorded before this date. The COVID-19 RT-PCR test positivity of these patients was followed from the National COVID-19 Database between September 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021. RESULTS: 1665 patients (female: male 683: 982, mean age 40.6+/-13.4 years). Among all patients, 14 patients had reinfection and the frequency of reinfection was 0.8%. It was observed that the frequency of reinfection was more frequent in patients with PCR negative (p<0.001). The IgG cut-off value causing reinfection was found to be 11.9 (AUC: 0.844, 79.2% sensitivity, 78.6% specificity) (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Humoral antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 were protective against COVID-19 reinfection, 0.8% of the patients had reinfection and the resultant reinfection was mostly seen in PCR negative patients who were asymptomatic.
ABSTRACT
Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the world, but with the Corona Virus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic emerging at the end of 2019, this issue has gained different importance. The presence of cardiovascular diseases leads to more severe COVID-19 infection and an increased mortality rate. On the other hand, COVID-19 itself causes myocardial damage and this contributes to morbidity and mortality. At the beginning of the pandemic, there was a concern that angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) would up-regulate the ACE2 receptor at the tissue level, increasing viral binding and facilitating the infection. With the current studies, this opinion has lost the influence and it was decided not to change the treatment of patients using ACE inhibitors or ARBs. Another important point is that patients with cardiovascular diseases are now far from the healthcare they could receive before as both pre-hospital and hospital health care is directed towards the COVID-19 pandemic. Considering that the epidemic will not disappear rapidly, a different arrangement may be planned in healthcare services. © 2021 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.