Abstract
BACKGROUND: The emergence and rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 since 2019 caused substantial global morbidity and mortality and continues to burden healthcare systems worldwide. Public health measures implemented to reduce SARS-CoV-2 spread also reduced circulation of other seasonal respiratory viruses, likely causing gaps in population-level immunity. Whether SARS-CoV-2 infection may dampen immune responses against other pathogens is highly debated and not well understood. [Figure: see text] METHODS: In 2022, we conducted a longitudinal study of immunocompetent adults ( > 18 years) with recent SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination history and increased risk of social or occupational exposure to respiratory viruses. Subjects were followed for 6 months and weekly symptom surveys, blood samples at enrollment, 3 and 6 months post-enrollment, and nasal swabs at report of symptoms were collected. Swabs were tested by RT-PCR (OpenArray) for 27 respiratory pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2. Serum antibodies were assessed by VirScan PhIP-seq for specificity to a broad library of antigen epitopes for clinically relevant pathogens, measuring total epitope hits and epitope binding (EB) scores, a measure similar to antibody titer. RESULTS: Of 43 subjects with paired serum samples > 1 week prior to and > 28 days after clinically confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, 32 subjects with viral load < Ct 22.2 were assessed by VirScan. SARS-CoV-2 epitope hits and EB scores were significantly increased post-infection compared to pre-infection (Fig 1A). SARS-CoV-2 infection was associated with reduced EB scores for adenovirus D and S. aureus (Fig 1B). However, SARS-CoV-2 infection was not associated with a statistically significant decline of epitope hits or EB scores for most other clinically relevant pathogens. CONCLUSION: We assessed broad changes in the antibody repertoires of subjects prior to and after SARS-CoV-2 infection for clinically relevant pathogens at the epitope level by VirScan. Together these data suggest that SARS-CoV-2 infection is not associated with differential patterns of antibody repertoire kinetics for most non-coronavirus respiratory pathogens in immunocompetent adults. Further analyses in larger cohorts with longer follow-up are needed to confirm these findings. DISCLOSURES: Michael J. Boeckh, MD PhD, Allovir: Advisor/Consultant|Allovir: Grant/Research Support|AstraZeneca: Advisor/Consultant|AstraZeneca: Grant/Research Support|Merck: Advisor/Consultant|Merck: Grant/Research Support|Moderna: Advisor/Consultant|Moderna: Grant/Research Support|Symbio: Advisor/Consultant Alpana waghmare, MD, Allovir: Grant/Research Support|Ansun Biopharma: Grant/Research Support|GlaxoKlineSmith: Advisor/Consultant|GlaxoKlineSmith: Grant/Research Support|Pfizer: Grant/Research Support|Vir: Advisor/Consultant