SARS-CoV-2-directed antibodies persist for more than six months in a cohort with mild to moderate COVID-19

Glück, Vivian; Grobecker, Sonja; Tydykov, Leonid; Salzberger, Bernd; Glück, Thomas; Weidlich, Tanja; Bertok, Manuela; Gottwald, Christine; Wenzel, Jürgen J.; Gessner, André; Schmidt, Barbara; Peterhoff, David

OBJECTIVE: To follow serological immune responses of front-line healthcare workers after PCR-confirmed COVID-19 for a mean of 30 weeks, describe the time-course of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein-specific IgG, IgA and IgM levels and to identify associations of the immune response with symptoms, demographic parameters and severity of disease. METHODS: Anti-SARS-CoV-2 S protein-specific IgG, IgA and IgM antibodies were measured at three time points during the 30-week follow-up. COVID-19-specific symptoms were assessed with standardized questionnaires. RESULTS: 95% of the participants mounted an IgG response with only modest decline after week 12. IgG-type antibodies were still detectable in almost 90% of the subjects at 30 weeks. IgA and IgM responses were less robust and antibody titers decreased more rapidly. At 30 weeks, only 25% still had detectable IgA-type and none had IgM-type antibodies. Higher age and higher disease severity were independently associated with higher IgG antibody levels, albeit with wide variations. CONCLUSION: Serological immune responses after COVID-19 show considerable inter-individual variability, but show an association with increasing age and higher severity of disease. IgG-type anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies remain positive in 90% of the individuals 30 weeks after onset of symptoms. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s15010-021-01598-6.