Healthcare Worker Study Cohort to Determine the Level and Durability of Cellular and Humoral Immune Responses after Two Doses of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination
Chiara Dentone,
Daniela Fenoglio,
Marta Ponzano,
Matteo Cerchiaro,
Tiziana Altosole,
Diego Franciotta,
Federica Portunato,
Malgorzata Mikulska,
Lucia Taramasso,
Laura Magnasco,
Chiara Uras,
Federica Magne,
Francesca Ferrera,
Graziana Scavone,
Alessio Signori,
Antonio Vena,
Valeria Visconti,
Gilberto Filaci,
Alessandro Sette,
Alba Grifoni,
Antonio Di Biagio,
Matteo Bassetti
Affiliations
Chiara Dentone
Infectious Disease Clinic, IRCCS Policlinico San Martino Hospital, Largo Rosanna Benzi, 10, 16132 Genoa, Italy
Daniela Fenoglio
Department of Internal Medicine, Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Research (CEBR), University of Genoa, 16126 Genoa, Italy
Marta Ponzano
Biostatistics Unit, Department of Health Science, University of Genova, 16132 Genova, Italy
Matteo Cerchiaro
Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Health Science (DISSAL), University of Genoa, 16126 Genoa, Italy
Tiziana Altosole
Department of Internal Medicine, Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Research (CEBR), University of Genoa, 16126 Genoa, Italy
Diego Franciotta
Autoimmunology Laboratory, IRCCS Policlinico San Martino, 16132 Genoa, Italy
Federica Portunato
Infectious Disease Clinic, IRCCS Policlinico San Martino Hospital, Largo Rosanna Benzi, 10, 16132 Genoa, Italy
Malgorzata Mikulska
Infectious Disease Clinic, IRCCS Policlinico San Martino Hospital, Largo Rosanna Benzi, 10, 16132 Genoa, Italy
Lucia Taramasso
Infectious Disease Clinic, IRCCS Policlinico San Martino Hospital, Largo Rosanna Benzi, 10, 16132 Genoa, Italy
Laura Magnasco
Infectious Disease Clinic, IRCCS Policlinico San Martino Hospital, Largo Rosanna Benzi, 10, 16132 Genoa, Italy
Chiara Uras
Department of Internal Medicine, Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Research (CEBR), University of Genoa, 16126 Genoa, Italy
Federica Magne
Infectious Disease Clinic, IRCCS Policlinico San Martino Hospital, Largo Rosanna Benzi, 10, 16132 Genoa, Italy
Francesca Ferrera
Department of Internal Medicine, Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Research (CEBR), University of Genoa, 16126 Genoa, Italy
Graziana Scavone
Biotherapy Unit, IRCCS Policlinico San Martino, 16132 Genoa, Italy
Alessio Signori
Biostatistics Unit, Department of Health Science, University of Genova, 16132 Genova, Italy
Antonio Vena
Infectious Disease Clinic, IRCCS Policlinico San Martino Hospital, Largo Rosanna Benzi, 10, 16132 Genoa, Italy
Valeria Visconti
Laboratory Unit, IRCCS Policlinico San Martino, 16132 Genoa, Italy
Gilberto Filaci
Department of Internal Medicine, Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Research (CEBR), University of Genoa, 16126 Genoa, Italy
Alessandro Sette
Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
Alba Grifoni
Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
Antonio Di Biagio
Infectious Disease Clinic, IRCCS Policlinico San Martino Hospital, Largo Rosanna Benzi, 10, 16132 Genoa, Italy
Matteo Bassetti
Infectious Disease Clinic, IRCCS Policlinico San Martino Hospital, Largo Rosanna Benzi, 10, 16132 Genoa, Italy
We prospectively studied immunological response against SARS-CoV-2 after vaccination among healthcare workers without (group A) and with previous infection (group B). The analyses were collected at T0 (before the BNT162b2), T1 (before the second dose), T2 and T6 (1 and 6 months after the second dose). For cellular immune response, the activation-induced cell marker assay was performed with CD4 and CD8 Spike peptide megapools expressed as Stimulation Index. For humoral immune response, we determined antibodies to Spike-1 and nucleocapsid protein. The linear mixed model compared specific times to T0. The CD4+ Spike response overall rate of change was significant at T1 (p = 0.038) and at T2 (p p = 0.0265), and the p value for group comparison was significant at the baseline (p = 0.0030) with higher SI in previously infected subjects. Overall, the anti-S Abs significantly increased from T1 to T6 compared to T0. The group B at T6 retained high anti-S titer (p < 0.001). At T6, in both groups we found a persistent humoral response and a high CD4+ T cell response able to cross recognize SARS-COV-2 variants including epsilon, even if not a circulating virus at that time.
