Imperial College London
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Charlie Whittaker

Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health

Research Fellow
 
 
 
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Contact

 

charles.whittaker16

 
 
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Location

 

Sir Michael Uren HubWhite City Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Prete:2022:10.1186/s12879-022-07094-y,
author = {Prete, CA and Buss, LF and Buccheri, R and Abrahim, CMM and Salomon, T and Crispim, MAE and Oikawa, MK and Grebe, E and da, Costa AG and Fraiji, NA and Carvalho, MDPSS and Whittaker, C and Alexander, N and Faria, NR and Dye, C and Nascimento, VH and Busch, MP and Sabino, EC},
doi = {10.1186/s12879-022-07094-y},
journal = {BMC Infectious Diseases},
title = {Reinfection by the SARS-CoV-2 Gamma variant in blood donors in Manaus, Brazil},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12879-022-07094-y},
volume = {22},
year = {2022}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - BackgroundThe city of Manaus, north Brazil, was stricken by a second epidemic wave of SARS-CoV-2 despite high seroprevalence estimates, coinciding with the emergence of the Gamma (P.1) variant. Reinfections were postulated as a partial explanation for the second surge. However, accurate calculation of reinfection rates is difficult when stringent criteria as two time-separated RT-PCR tests and/or genome sequencing are required. To estimate the proportion of reinfections caused by Gamma during the second wave in Manaus and the protection conferred by previous infection, we identified anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody boosting in repeat blood donors as a mean to infer reinfection.MethodsWe tested serial blood samples from unvaccinated repeat blood donors in Manaus for the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies using two assays that display waning in early convalescence, enabling the detection of reinfection-induced boosting. Donors were required to have three or more donations, being at least one during each epidemic wave. We propose a strict serological definition of reinfection (reactivity boosting following waning like a V-shaped curve in both assays or three spaced boostings), probable (two separate boosting events) and possible (reinfection detected by only one assay) reinfections. The serial samples were used to divide donors into six groups defined based on the inferred sequence of infection and reinfection with non-Gamma and Gamma variants.ResultsFrom 3655 repeat blood donors, 238 met all inclusion criteria, and 223 had enough residual sample volume to perform both serological assays. We found 13.6% (95% CI 7.0–24.5%) of all presumed Gamma infections that were observed in 2021 were reinfections. If we also include cases of probable or possible reinfections, these percentages increase respectively to 22.7% (95% CI 14.3–34.2%) and 39.3% (95% CI 29.5–50.0%). Previous infection conferred a protection against reinfection of 85.3% (95% CI 71.3–92.
AU  - Prete,CA
AU  - Buss,LF
AU  - Buccheri,R
AU  - Abrahim,CMM
AU  - Salomon,T
AU  - Crispim,MAE
AU  - Oikawa,MK
AU  - Grebe,E
AU  - da,Costa AG
AU  - Fraiji,NA
AU  - Carvalho,MDPSS
AU  - Whittaker,C
AU  - Alexander,N
AU  - Faria,NR
AU  - Dye,C
AU  - Nascimento,VH
AU  - Busch,MP
AU  - Sabino,EC
DO  - 10.1186/s12879-022-07094-y
PY  - 2022///
SN  - 1471-2334
TI  - Reinfection by the SARS-CoV-2 Gamma variant in blood donors in Manaus, Brazil
T2  - BMC Infectious Diseases
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12879-022-07094-y
UR  - http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000751614000004&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
UR  - https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-022-07094-y
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/97944
VL  - 22
ER  -
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