Nature Communications (May 2023)
Impaired humoral immunity to BQ.1.1 in convalescent and vaccinated patients
- Felix Dewald,
- Martin Pirkl,
- Martha Paluschinski,
- Joachim Kühn,
- Carina Elsner,
- Bianca Schulte,
- Jacqueline Knüfer,
- Elvin Ahmadov,
- Maike Schlotz,
- Göksu Oral,
- Michael Bernhard,
- Mark Michael,
- Maura Luxenburger,
- Marcel Andrée,
- Marc Tim Hennies,
- Wali Hafezi,
- Marlin Maybrit Müller,
- Philipp Kümpers,
- Joachim Risse,
- Clemens Kill,
- Randi Katrin Manegold,
- Ute von Frantzki,
- Enrico Richter,
- Dorian Emmert,
- Werner O. Monzon-Posadas,
- Ingo Gräff,
- Monika Kogej,
- Antonia Büning,
- Maximilian Baum,
- Finn Teipel,
- Babak Mochtarzadeh,
- Martin Wolff,
- Henning Gruell,
- Veronica Di Cristanziano,
- Volker Burst,
- Hendrik Streeck,
- Ulf Dittmer,
- Stephan Ludwig,
- Jörg Timm,
- Florian Klein
Affiliations
- Felix Dewald
- Institute of Virology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne
- Martin Pirkl
- Institute of Virology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne
- Martha Paluschinski
- Institute of Virology, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf
- Joachim Kühn
- Institute of Virology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Muenster, University of Muenster
- Carina Elsner
- Institute for Virology, University Hospital Essen, University Duisburg-Essen
- Bianca Schulte
- Institute of Virology, University Hospital Bonn, University of Bonn
- Jacqueline Knüfer
- Institute of Virology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne
- Elvin Ahmadov
- Institute of Virology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne
- Maike Schlotz
- Institute of Virology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne
- Göksu Oral
- Institute of Virology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne
- Michael Bernhard
- Emergency Department, Medical Faculty and University Hospital of Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf
- Mark Michael
- Emergency Department, Medical Faculty and University Hospital of Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf
- Maura Luxenburger
- Institute of Virology, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf
- Marcel Andrée
- Institute of Virology, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf
- Marc Tim Hennies
- Institute of Virology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Muenster, University of Muenster
- Wali Hafezi
- Institute of Virology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Muenster, University of Muenster
- Marlin Maybrit Müller
- Institute of Virology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Muenster, University of Muenster
- Philipp Kümpers
- Division of General Internal and Emergency Medicine, Nephrology, Hypertension and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine D, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Muenster, University of Muenster
- Joachim Risse
- Center of Emergency Medicine, University Hospital Essen
- Clemens Kill
- Center of Emergency Medicine, University Hospital Essen
- Randi Katrin Manegold
- Center of Emergency Medicine, University Hospital Essen
- Ute von Frantzki
- Center of Emergency Medicine, University Hospital Essen
- Enrico Richter
- Institute of Virology, University Hospital Bonn, University of Bonn
- Dorian Emmert
- Institute of Virology, University Hospital Bonn, University of Bonn
- Werner O. Monzon-Posadas
- Occupational Medicine Department, University Hospital Bonn
- Ingo Gräff
- Emergency Department, University Hospital Bonn, University of Bonn
- Monika Kogej
- Emergency Department, University Hospital Bonn, University of Bonn
- Antonia Büning
- Institute of Virology, University Hospital Bonn, University of Bonn
- Maximilian Baum
- Institute of Virology, University Hospital Bonn, University of Bonn
- Finn Teipel
- Institute of Virology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne
- Babak Mochtarzadeh
- Institute of Virology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne
- Martin Wolff
- Institute of Virology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne
- Henning Gruell
- Institute of Virology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne
- Veronica Di Cristanziano
- Institute of Virology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne
- Volker Burst
- Department II of Internal Medicine: Nephrology, Rheumatology, Diabetes and General Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne University of Cologne
- Hendrik Streeck
- Institute of Virology, University Hospital Bonn, University of Bonn
- Ulf Dittmer
- Institute for Virology, University Hospital Essen, University Duisburg-Essen
- Stephan Ludwig
- Institute of Virology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Muenster, University of Muenster
- Jörg Timm
- Institute of Virology, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf
- Florian Klein
- Institute of Virology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-38127-y
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 14,
no. 1
pp. 1 – 13
Abstract
Abstract Determining SARS-CoV-2 immunity is critical to assess COVID-19 risk and the need for prevention and mitigation strategies. We measured SARS-CoV-2 Spike/Nucleocapsid seroprevalence and serum neutralizing activity against Wu01, BA.4/5 and BQ.1.1 in a convenience sample of 1,411 patients receiving medical treatment in the emergency departments of five university hospitals in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in August/September 2022. 62% reported underlying medical conditions and 67.7% were vaccinated according to German COVID-19 vaccination recommendations (13.9% fully vaccinated, 54.3% one booster, 23.4% two boosters). We detected Spike-IgG in 95.6%, Nucleocapsid-IgG in 24.0%, and neutralization against Wu01, BA.4/5 and BQ.1.1 in 94.4%, 85.0%, and 73.8% of participants, respectively. Neutralization against BA.4/5 and BQ.1.1 was 5.6- and 23.4-fold lower compared to Wu01. Accuracy of S-IgG detection for determination of neutralizing activity against BQ.1.1 was reduced substantially. We explored previous vaccinations and infections as correlates of BQ.1.1 neutralization using multivariable and Bayesian network analyses. Given a rather moderate adherence to COVID-19 vaccination recommendations, this analysis highlights the need to improve vaccine-uptake to reduce the COVID-19 risk of immune evasive variants. The study was registered as clinical trial (DRKS00029414).
