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. 2023 Mar;18(2):397-407.
doi: 10.1007/s11739-022-03177-5. Epub 2022 Dec 20.

Serological response to COVID-19 pneumonia and increasing severity over 18 months in a prospective cohort of hospitalized patients

Gemma Grau Gómez  1 , Xavier Martínez Lacasa  2 , Roser Costa  3 , Bienvenido Barreiro  3 , Miguel Leal  3 , Emma Padilla  4 , Pepa Pérez  4 , Marc Garreta  4 , Judith Vidal  4   5 , Angeles Jaen  6 , Helena Monzón Camps  2 ; COMUTE Study Group (COVID-19 Mutua Terrassa Study Group)
Collaborators, Affiliations

Serological response to COVID-19 pneumonia and increasing severity over 18 months in a prospective cohort of hospitalized patients

Gemma Grau Gómez et al. Intern Emerg Med. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

In this study, we present an 18-month serological follow-up of 294 patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. The aim was to assess the dynamics of serological response and its correlation with clinical worsening, as well as to describe clinical worsening determinants. Results of the study showed an early immunoglobulin M response, which clearly diminished starting at 4 months, but nonetheless, a small group of patients remained positive. As for immunoglobulin G, levels were higher up to 6 months in patients who presented clinical worsening during hospitalization. High titers of the immunoglobulin were maintained in all patients during follow-up, which would indicate that humoral immunity due to infection is long-lasting. Male sex, presence of myalgias and extensive radiological affectation were significantly correlated with clinical worsening.

Keywords: COVID-19 pneumonia; Clinical worsening; SARS-COV-2; Serological response.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
IgM and IgG prevalence over time since PCR diagnosis in the study cohort. *Evaluated between 5.1 and 7.8 months (mean: 6.5 months ± 0.39); ł evaluated between 9 and 11 months (mean: 9.9 ± 0.27); ≈ evaluated between 13 and 15 months (mean 14.3 ± 0.47)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
IgM and IgG prevalence over time since symptoms onset in the study cohort. *Evaluated between 5.1 and 7.8 months (mean: 6.5 months ± 0.39); ł evaluated between 9 and 11 months (mean: 10.1 ± 0.33); ≈evaluated between 13 and 15 months (mean 14.6 ± 0.49)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Quantitative IgG values expressed as UA/mL over time in the study cohort
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
a (left) Absolute IgG values according to clinical worsening (no/yes) since diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection by RT-PCR. b (right) Logarithm of IgG response according to clinical worsening (no/yes) since diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection by RT-PCR
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
IgM prevalence with regard to clinical worsening during hospitalization. *Evaluated between 5.1 and 7.8 months (mean: 6.5 months ± 0.39); ł evaluated between 9 and 11 months (mean: 9.9 ± 0.27); ≈ evaluated between 13 and 15 months (mean 14.3 ± 0.47)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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