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Observational Study
. 2022 Jan 21;40(2):206-212.
doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.11.081. Epub 2021 Dec 3.

SARS-CoV-2-antibody response in health care workers after vaccination or natural infection in a longitudinal observational study

Jonas Herzberg  1 , Tanja Vollmer  2 , Bastian Fischer  2 , Heiko Becher  3 , Ann-Kristin Becker  4 , Human Honarpisheh  5 , Salman Yousuf Guraya  6 , Tim Strate  5 , Cornelius Knabbe  2
Affiliations
Observational Study

SARS-CoV-2-antibody response in health care workers after vaccination or natural infection in a longitudinal observational study

Jonas Herzberg et al. Vaccine. .

Abstract

Background: Following a year of development, several vaccines have been approved to contain the global COVID-19 pandemic. Real world comparative data on immune response following vaccination or natural infection are rare.

Methods: We conducted a longitudinal observational study in employees at a secondary care hospital affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Comparisons were made about the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunglobulin G (IgG) antibody ratio after natural infection, or vaccination with one or two doses of BioNTech/Pfizer (BNT162b2), or one dose of AstraZenca (Vaxzevria) vaccine.

Results: We found a 100% humoral response rate in participants after 2 doses of BNT162b2 vaccine. The antibody ratio in participants with one dose BNT162b2 and Vaxzevria did not differ significantly to those with previous PCR-confirmed infection, whereas this was significantly lower in comparison to two doses of BioNTech/Pfizer. We could not identify a correlation with previous comorbidities, obesity or age within this study. Smoking showed a negative effect on the antibody response (p = 0.006) CONCLUSION: Our data provide an overview about humoral immune response after natural SARS-CoV-2 infection or following vaccination, and supports the usage of booster vaccinations, especially in patients after a natural SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Keywords: Anti-SARS-CoV-2-IgG-antibodies; AstraZeneca; BioNTech; Health Care worker; Seroprevalence; Vaccination.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Anti-SARS-CoV-2-IgG antibody ratio in accordance with the subjectively severity of reported symptoms in previously infected participants without vaccination (n = 52) Participants with severe symptoms showed a significantly higher anti-SARS-CoV-2-IgG antibody ratio (p = 0.030) compared to those with mild symptoms.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Anti-SARS-CoV-2-IgG antibody ratio according to the type of infection or vaccination in the study group (n = 562). Compared to all other groups, participants showed a significant higher antibody ratio after two doses of BioNTech/Pfizer (p < 0.0001).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Grouped Age (years) comparing anti-SARS-CoV-2-IgG antibody ratio in relation to natural infection or vaccination (n = 562). A significant difference in anti-SARS-CoV-2-IgG antibody ratio could be found for age groups after natural infection (p = 0.030), whereas no significant difference could be found within vaccinated groups.
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