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. 2023 Mar 1;24(5):4742.
doi: 10.3390/ijms24054742.

Monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Ragusa Area: Next Generation Sequencing and Serological Analysis

Maria Denaro  1 , Elisa Ferro  1 , Giuseppe Barrano  1 , Salvatore Meli  1 , Mariangela Busacca  1 , Damiano Corallo  1 , Alessia Capici  1 , Alessandra Zisa  1 , Luana Cucuzza  1 , Sandra Gradante  1 , Marialuisa Occhipinti  2 , Paola Santalucia  3 , Raffaele Elia  3 , Angelo Aliquò  3 , Daniele Tibullo  4 , Carmelo Fidone  1 , Vincenzo Bramanti  1
Affiliations

Monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Ragusa Area: Next Generation Sequencing and Serological Analysis

Maria Denaro et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) post pandemic evolution is correlated to the development of new variants. Viral genomic and immune response monitoring are fundamental to the surveillance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Since 1 January to 31 July 2022, we monitored the SARS-CoV-2 variants trend in Ragusa area sequencing n.600 samples by next generation sequencing (NGS) technology: n.300 were healthcare workers (HCWs) of ASP Ragusa. The evaluation of anti-Nucleocapside (N), receptor-binding domain (RBD), the two subunit of S protein (S1 and S2) IgG levels in 300 exposed vs. 300 unexposed HCWs to SARS-CoV-2 was performed. Differences in immune response and clinical symptoms related to the different variants were investigated. The SARS-CoV-2 variants trend in Ragusa area and in Sicily region were comparable. BA.1 and BA.2 were the most representative variants, whereas the diffusion of BA.3 and BA.4 affected some places of the region. Although no correlation was found between variants and clinical manifestations, anti-N and anti-S2 levels were positively correlated with an increase in the symptoms number. SARS-CoV-2 infection induced a statistically significant enhancement in antibody titers compared to that produced by SARS-CoV-2 vaccine administration. In post-pandemic period, the evaluation of anti-N IgG could be used as an early marker to identify asymptomatic subjects.

Keywords: COVID-19; NGS; SARS-CoV-2; immunoglobulins anti-N IgG; immunoglobulins anti-RBD IgG; immunoglobulins anti-S1 IgG; immunoglobulins anti-S2 IgG.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Variants percentages in Ragusa area (a) and Sicily region (b) and temporal trend with percentage of SARS-CoV-2 variants since 1 January to 31 July 2022 in Ragusa area (c) and Sicily region (d).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison between exsposed and unexsposed HCWs groups for: anti-N IgG (a), anti-RBD IgG (b), anti-S1 IgG (c) and anti-S2 IgG (d).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Number of cases seropositive or seronegative for anti-N IgG in relation to SARS-CoV-2 infection in the last 3 months and over 3 months.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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