International Journal of Infectious Diseases (Jan 2022)

Post-acute COVID-19 syndrome after reinfection and vaccine breakthrough by the SARS-CoV-2 Gamma variant in Brazil

  • Stephanie L.S. Penetra,
  • Michele F.B. da Silva,
  • Paola Resende,
  • Anielle Pina-Costa,
  • Heloisa F.P. Santos,
  • Lusiele Guaraldo,
  • Guilherme A. Calvet,
  • Maria Ogrzewalska,
  • Ighor Arantes,
  • Ketiuce Zukeram,
  • Mia F. de Araújo,
  • Ana Beatriz Machado Lima,
  • Renata Serrano Lopes,
  • Larissa R. Lira-Silva,
  • Isabella V. Moraes,
  • Mayumi D. Wakimoto,
  • Trevon L. Fuller,
  • Claudia Raja Gabaglia,
  • Otávio M. Espíndola,
  • Myrna C. Bonaldo,
  • Cláudio Tadeu Daniel-Ribeiro,
  • Jimmy Whitworth,
  • Chris Smith,
  • Karin Nielsen-Saines,
  • Alex Pauvolid-Correa,
  • Marilda M. Siqueira,
  • Patricia Brasil

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 114
pp. 58 – 61

Abstract

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We describe a case of prolonged COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 Gamma variant in a fully vaccinated healthcare worker, 387 days after an infection caused by lineage B.1.1.33. Infections were confirmed by whole-genome sequencing and corroborated by the detection of neutralizing antibodies in convalescent serum samples. Considering the permanent exposure of this healthcare worker to SARS-CoV-2, the waning immunity after the first infection, the low efficacy of the inactivated vaccine at preventing COVID-19, the immune escape of the Gamma variant (VOC), and the burden of post-COVID syndrome, this individual would have benefited from an additional dose of a heterologous vaccine.

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