Published in

Springer Nature [academic journals on nature.com], Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, 1(8), 2023

DOI: 10.1038/s41392-023-01345-3

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Successful clearance of persistent SARS-CoV-2 asymptomatic infection following a single dose of Ad5-nCoV vaccine

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

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Abstract

AbstractPersistent asymptomatic (PA) SARS-CoV-2 infections have been identified. The immune responses in these patients are unclear, and the development of effective treatments for these patients is needed. Here, we report a cohort of 23 PA cases carrying viral RNA for up to 191 days. PA cases displayed low levels of inflammatory and interferon response, weak antibody response, diminished circulating follicular helper T cells (cTfh), and inadequate specific CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses during infection, which is distinct from symptomatic infections and resembling impaired immune activation. Administration of a single dose of Ad5-nCoV vaccine to 10 of these PA cases elicited rapid and robust antibody responses as well as coordinated B-cell and cTfh responses, resulting in successful viral clearance. Vaccine-induced antibodies were able to neutralize various variants of concern and persisted for over 6 months, indicating long-term protection. Therefore, our study provides an insight into the immune status of PA infections and highlights vaccination as a potential treatment for prolonged SARS-CoV-2 infections.