Published in

MDPI, Viruses, 6(13), p. 1143, 2021

DOI: 10.3390/v13061143

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SARS-CoV-2 Antigenemia as a Confounding Factor in Immunodiagnostic Assays: A Case Study

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

Humoral immunity has emerged as a vital immune component against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Nevertheless, a subset of recovered Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) paucisymptomatic/asymptomatic individuals do not generate an antibody response, constituting a paradox. We assumed that immunodiagnostic assays may operate under a competitive format within the context of antigenemia, potentially explaining this phenomenon. We present a case where persistent antigenemia/viremia was documented for at least 73 days post-symptom onset using ‘in-house’ methodology, and as it progressively declined, seroconversion took place late, around day 55, supporting our hypothesis. Thus, prolonged SARS-CoV-2 antigenemia/viremia could mask humoral responses, rendering, in certain cases, the phenomenon of ‘non-responders’ a misnomer.