Evaluation of Point-of-care and Traditional ELISA Techniques for the Detection of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG Antibodies in Individuals Vaccinated Against COVID-19

Abstract

Introduction: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has affected more than 676 million people till date, and 6,881,955 people have died from the disease as of March 28, 2023. Understanding the immunopathogenesis of the disease has led to more vaccine studies. The Comirnaty and CoronaVac vaccines are used in our country. The role of serology tests in the interpretation of protective and sustained immunity remains controversial after vaccines. However, serological testing is part of epidemiology and is essential for understanding the immunity against Severe acute respiratory syndrome-Coronavirus-2. We aimed to determine the antibody titers after vaccination and its effect on immunity, which could lead to new studies. Materials and Methods: Two traditional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) techniques (Euroimmune and Genzbio Covel) and one point-of-care (POC) method (Genz-Pro) were used in our study for detecting antibodies in vaccinated individuals. Results: A total of 84 individuals were included in our study. The results obtained using the Genz-Pro test were evaluated according to the vaccine status; the positive antibody detection rate was significantly higher in Comirnaty-vaccinated patients than in CoronaVac-vaccinated individuals. The Spearman’s correlation coefficient demonstrated a positive correlation between the two ELISA techniques. Conclusion: The POC ELISA can quantify IgG seroconversion after COVID-19 vaccination with rapid and multiple measurements without sample accumulation. Thus, the POC ELISA can be used in COVID-19 services and outpatient clinics during post-vaccination follow-up to determine the performance of vaccines.

Keywords

• point-of-care systems
• covid-19 testing
• antibodies
• serologic tests