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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Vaccines and Molecular Therapeutics
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1476186

Clinical characteristics and antibody response to Omicron variants among solid carcinoma patients in China on the 2022.12-2023.4 wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

Provisionally accepted
Dai Rongrong Dai Rongrong 1*Weiyu Peng Weiyu Peng 2*Nani Xu Nani Xu 3*Pan Qin Pan Qin 3*Linling Ding Linling Ding 4*Qianhui Hua Qianhui Hua 4*Jianmin Jiang Jianmin Jiang 1,4*Fang He Fang He 5*Hangjie Zhang Hangjie Zhang 4*
  • 1 School of Public Health, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 2 Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
  • 3 Xihu District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 4 Zhejiang Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Zhejiang CDC), Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
  • 5 Laboratory Medicine Center, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: China experienced a surge of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron variants after adjusting its zero-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) policy. Although infections with Omicron variants are generally less severe than infections with previous SARS-CoV-2 variants, the clinical characteristics, persistent symptoms, and antibody responses in solid carcinoma patients (SCPs) with COVID-19 during the Omicron wave are unclear.We conducted a cross-sectional study in April 2023, recruiting healthy controls (HCs) from the community and SCPs from Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital. Serum samples were collected, and a questionnaire was used to assess SARS-CoV-2 infection status, including demographic characteristics, clinical manifestations, and "long COVID" symptoms. Humoral immune responses were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) targeting immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies against the receptor-binding domain (RBD; Omicron BA.4/5) protein and cell culture-based neutralization assays against Omicron variants (BA.4/5, BF.7, XBB.1.5, and EG.5).In total, 298 SCPs and 258 HCs were enrolled. Self-reported COVID-19 case rates were significantly lower in SCPs than in HCs (78.5% vs. 93.8%, P<0.001). Common COVID-19 symptoms were similar between the two groups, primarily comprising general (92.6% vs. 84.9%) and respiratory symptoms (51.9% vs. 48.2%) after acute infection. There was no significant difference in persistent symptoms at 1-3 months post-infection (P=0.353); fatigue was the most common symptom (45.0% vs. 44.8%). SCPs exhibited lower anti-RBD-IgG titers compared with HCs (1.061 vs. 1.978, P=0.001). The 50% pseudovirus neutralization titer (pVNT50) values for prevalent Omicron strains (BA.4/5 and BF.7) were lower in SCPs than in HCs (621.

    Keywords: COVID-19, omicron, Solid cancer, Clinical Characteristics, antibody response, Long Covid

    Received: 14 Aug 2024; Accepted: 16 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Rongrong, Peng, Xu, Qin, Ding, Hua, Jiang, He and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Dai Rongrong, School of Public Health, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
    Weiyu Peng, Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
    Nani Xu, Xihu District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
    Pan Qin, Xihu District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
    Linling Ding, Zhejiang Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Zhejiang CDC), Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
    Qianhui Hua, Zhejiang Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Zhejiang CDC), Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
    Jianmin Jiang, School of Public Health, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
    Fang He, Laboratory Medicine Center, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou, 310014, Jiangsu Province, China
    Hangjie Zhang, Zhejiang Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Zhejiang CDC), Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China

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