SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody responses in COVID-19 patients

NISREEN M.A. OKBA; Marcel A Muller; Wentao Li; Chunyan Wang; Corine H. GeurtsvanKessel; Victor M. Corman; Mart M. Lamers; Reina S. Sikkema; Erwin de Bruin; Felicity D. Chandler; Yazdan Yazdanpanah; Quentin Le Hingrat; Diane Descamps; Nadhira Houhou-Fidouh; Chantal B. E. M. Reusken; Berend-Jan Bosch; Christian Drosten; Marion P.G. Koopmans; Bart L. Haagmans

In December 2019, a new coronavirus (CoV) emerged in China to cause an acute respiratory disease known as coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) (1) . The virus was identified to be a betacoronavirus related to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and thus, was named SARS-CoV-2 (2) . In less than two decades, this virus is the third known coronavirus to cross the species barrier and cause severe respiratory infections in humans following SARS-CoV in 2003 and Middle East respiratory syndrome in 2012, yet with unprecedented spread compared to the earlier two. Due to the rapid rise in number of cases and uncontrolled and vast worldwide spread, the WHO has declared SARS-CoV-2 a pandemic. As of March 14th 2020, the virus has infected over 130,000 individuals in 122 countries, 3.7% of which had a fatal outcome (3) . The rapid identification of the etiology and the sharing of the genetic sequence of the virus, followed by international collaborative efforts initiated due to the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 have led to the rapid availability of real-time PCR diagnostic assays that support the case ascertainment and tracking of the outbreak (4) . The availability of these has helped in patient detection and efforts to contain the virus. However, specific and validated serologic assays are still lacking at the moment and are urgently needed to understand the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2.