No neutralizing effect of pre-existing tick-borne encephalitis virus antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2: a prospective healthcare worker study.
Sci Rep
; 11(1): 24198, 2021 12 17.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1585789
ABSTRACT
Certain immunizations including vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) have been suggested to confer cross-protection against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Within a prospective healthcare worker (HCW) cohort, we assessed the potentially protective role of anti-TBEV antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Among 3352 HCW, those with ≥ 1 previous TBEV vaccination (n = 2018, 60%) showed a reduced risk of SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion (adjusted odds ratio 0.8, 95% CI 0.7-1.0, P = 0.02). However, laboratory testing of a subgroup of 26 baseline and follow-up samples did not demonstrate any neutralizing effect of anti-TBEV antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in live-virus neutralization assay. However, we observed significantly higher anti-TBEV antibody titers in follow-up samples of participants with previous TBEV vaccination compared to baseline, both TBEV neutralizing (p = 0.001) and total IgG (P < 0.0001), irrespective of SARS-CoV-2 serostatus. Based on these data, we conclude that the observed association of previous TBEV vaccination and reduced risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection is likely due to residual confounding factors. The increase in TBEV follow-up antibody titers can be explained by natural TBEV exposure or potential non-specific immune activation upon exposure to various pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2. We believe that these findings, although negative, contribute to the current knowledge on potential cross-immunity against SARS-CoV-2 from previous immunizations.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Health Personnel
/
Encephalitis, Tick-Borne
/
Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne
/
Antibodies, Neutralizing
/
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
/
Antibodies, Viral
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Vaccines
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
English
Journal:
Sci Rep
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S41598-021-03685-y
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