Breakthrough infections “naturally boost” immune response.
First detailed description of immune response following breakthrough infections. This is a study on a subset of 35 people (infected vs uninfected) from the Provincetown Massachusetts outbreak, US.
See thread 👇
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First detailed description of immune response following breakthrough infections. This is a study on a subset of 35 people (infected vs uninfected) from the Provincetown Massachusetts outbreak, US.
See thread 👇
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https://twitter.com/jbloom_lab/status/1453833007098302467
The study compared 14 fully vaccinated individuals who got symptomatic COVID-19.
They were compared to 21 fully vaccinated individuals who were not infected during this outbreak.
469 individuals were infected in the outbreak that occurred in July.
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They were compared to 21 fully vaccinated individuals who were not infected during this outbreak.
469 individuals were infected in the outbreak that occurred in July.
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Details of the outbreak: Among the 469 people who were infected, 3/4 were fully vaccinated.
Five people were hospitalised, four of whom were fully vaccinated.
There were no deaths.
See earlier tweet for details, Will link below.
Main findings from this study👇
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Five people were hospitalised, four of whom were fully vaccinated.
There were no deaths.
See earlier tweet for details, Will link below.
Main findings from this study👇
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Cellular immunity was boosted by breakthrough infections.
There was a two-fold rise in CD4 and 2.7-4.4 fold increase in CD8 (T cells) after infection.
CD8 cells were below limit among uninfected.
This also shows that apparent absence of CD8 did not lead to infection.
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There was a two-fold rise in CD4 and 2.7-4.4 fold increase in CD8 (T cells) after infection.
CD8 cells were below limit among uninfected.
This also shows that apparent absence of CD8 did not lead to infection.
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Antibodies
There was a 3-4 fold increase in neutralising antibodies & 2-8 fold rise in binding antibodies following infection.
No neutralising antibodies were found among Pfizer vaccine recipients after 5 to 6 months, confirming that neutralising antibodies decline steeply.
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There was a 3-4 fold increase in neutralising antibodies & 2-8 fold rise in binding antibodies following infection.
No neutralising antibodies were found among Pfizer vaccine recipients after 5 to 6 months, confirming that neutralising antibodies decline steeply.
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Mucosal immunity was also measured.
Mucosal IgA increased 5-8 fold while mucosal IgG increased 19-21 fold following infection.
This is consistent with anamnestic response, which will likely protect these individuals from natural infection over a time window of a few months.
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Mucosal IgA increased 5-8 fold while mucosal IgG increased 19-21 fold following infection.
This is consistent with anamnestic response, which will likely protect these individuals from natural infection over a time window of a few months.
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In summary, this study shows that neutralising antibodies declined after vaccination, increasing the risk of picking up mild or moderate infections - while mingling in crowds.
Breakthrough infections elicited an anamnestic response, thus boosting antibodies & T cells.
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Breakthrough infections elicited an anamnestic response, thus boosting antibodies & T cells.
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It is noteworthy that this ‘booster’ response also covered delta variant - which meant that vaccines built on the “old platform” (of the original virus) are good enough to elicit a customised response in the future.
Although predicted, it is still good to see these results.
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Although predicted, it is still good to see these results.
7/7
Report from the July outbreak, Provincetown Massachusetts
https://twitter.com/rajeevjayadevan/status/1422068354211188736
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