Cross-immunity against SARS-COV-2 variants of concern in naturally infected critically ill COVID-19 patients
Douglas D. Fraser,
Maitray A. Patel,
Logan R. Van Nynatten,
Claudio Martin,
Shannon L. Seney,
Michael R. Miller,
Mark Daley,
Marat Slessarev,
Gediminas Cepinskas,
Ganeem K. Juneja,
Vanessa Sabourin,
Alison Fox-Robichaud,
Calvin H. Yeh,
Paul Y. Kim,
Sigrun Badrnya,
Susanne Oehler,
Markus Miholits,
Brian Webb
Affiliations
Douglas D. Fraser
Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, N6C 2R5, Canada; Pediatrics, Western University, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada; Clinical Neurological Sciences, Western University, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada; Physiology & Pharmacology, Western University, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada; Corresponding author. Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, N6C 2R5, Canada.
Maitray A. Patel
Epidemiology, Western University, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada
Logan R. Van Nynatten
Medicine, Western University, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada
Claudio Martin
Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, N6C 2R5, Canada; Medicine, Western University, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada
Shannon L. Seney
Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, N6C 2R5, Canada
Michael R. Miller
Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, N6C 2R5, Canada; Pediatrics, Western University, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada
Mark Daley
Epidemiology, Western University, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada
Marat Slessarev
Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, N6C 2R5, Canada; Medicine, Western University, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada
Gediminas Cepinskas
Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, N6C 2R5, Canada; Medical Biophysics, Western University, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada
Ganeem K. Juneja
Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4L8, Canada; Thrombosis and Atherosclerosis Research Institute, Hamilton, ON, L8L 2X2, Canada
Vanessa Sabourin
Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4L8, Canada; Thrombosis and Atherosclerosis Research Institute, Hamilton, ON, L8L 2X2, Canada
Alison Fox-Robichaud
Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4L8, Canada; Thrombosis and Atherosclerosis Research Institute, Hamilton, ON, L8L 2X2, Canada
Calvin H. Yeh
Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4L8, Canada; Thrombosis and Atherosclerosis Research Institute, Hamilton, ON, L8L 2X2, Canada
Paul Y. Kim
Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4L8, Canada; Thrombosis and Atherosclerosis Research Institute, Hamilton, ON, L8L 2X2, Canada
Critically ill patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 display adaptive immunity, but it is unknown if they develop cross-reactivity to variants of concern (VOCs). We profiled cross-immunity against SARS-CoV-2 VOCs in naturally infected, non-vaccinated, critically ill COVID-19 patients. Wave-1 patients (wild-type infection) were similar in demographics to Wave-3 patients (wild-type/alpha infection), but Wave-3 patients had higher illness severity. Wave-1 patients developed increasing neutralizing antibodies to all variants, as did patients during Wave-3. Wave-3 patients, when compared to Wave-1, developed more robust antibody responses, particularly for wild-type, alpha, beta and delta variants. Within Wave-3, neutralizing antibodies were significantly less to beta and gamma VOCs, as compared to wild-type, alpha and delta. Patients previously diagnosed with cancer or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease had significantly fewer neutralizing antibodies. Naturally infected ICU patients developed adaptive responses to all VOCs, with greater responses in those patients more likely to be infected with the alpha variant, versus wild-type.
