Volume 8 Issue 4, Apr 2023:
Article
Successful clearance of persistent SARS-CoV-2 asymptomatic infection following a single dose of Ad5-nCoV vaccine
Shaofu Qiu,Zhao Chen,Airu Zhu,Qiuhui Zeng,Hongbo Liu,Xiaoqing Liu,Feng Ye,Yingkang Jin,Jie Wu,Chaojie Yang,Qi Wang,Fangli Chen,Lan Chen,Sai Tian,Xinying Du,Qingtao Hu,Jinling Cheng,Canjie Chen,Fang Li,Jing Sun,Yanqun Wang,Jingxian Zhao,Jincun Zhao
ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2515-5589 &…Hongbin Song
Persistent 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.
