T-Cell-Dominated Immune Response Resolves Protracted SARS-CoV-2 Infection in the Absence of Neutralizing Antibodies in an Immunocompromised Individual

Abstract

Immunocompromised individuals are at higher risk of developing protracted and severe COVID-19, and understanding individual disease courses and SARS-CoV-2 immune responses in these individuals is of the utmost importance. For more than two years, we followed an immunocompromised individual with a protracted SARS-CoV-2 infection that was eventually cleared in the absence of a humoral neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 antibody response. By conducting an in-depth examination of this individual’s immune response and comparing it to a large cohort of convalescents who spontaneously cleared a SARS-CoV-2 infection, we shed light on the interplay between B- and T-cell immunity and how they interact in clearing SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Keywords

• immunocompromise
• SARS-CoV-2
• variants
• protracted infection
• B-and T-cell immunity