Emerging Infectious Diseases (May 2021)

Longevity of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Antibody Responses in Humans, Saudi Arabia

  • Abeer N. Alshukairi,
  • Jincun Zhao,
  • Maha A. Al-Mozaini,
  • Yanqun Wang,
  • Ashraf Dada,
  • Salim A. Baharoon,
  • Sara Alfaraj,
  • Waleed A. Ahmed,
  • Mushira A. Enani,
  • Fatehi E. Elzein,
  • Nazik Eltayeb,
  • Laila Layqah,
  • Aiman El-Saed,
  • Husam A. Bahaudden,
  • Abdul Haseeb,
  • Sherif A. El-Kafrawy,
  • Ahmed M. Hassan,
  • Najlaa A. Siddiq,
  • Ibtihaj Alsharif,
  • Isamel Qushmaq,
  • Esam I. Azhar,
  • Stanley Perlman,
  • Ziad A. Memish

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2705.204056
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 27, no. 5
pp. 1472 – 1476

Abstract

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Understanding the immune response to Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is crucial for disease prevention and vaccine development. We studied the antibody responses in 48 human MERS-CoV infection survivors who had variable disease severity in Saudi Arabia. MERS-CoV–specific neutralizing antibodies were detected for 6 years postinfection.

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