AUTHOR=Ladage Dennis , Rösgen Delia , Schreiner Clemens , Ladage Dorothee , Adler Christoph , Harzer Oliver , Braun Ralf J. TITLE=Persisting Antibody Response to SARS-CoV-2 in a Local Austrian Population JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine VOLUME=8 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2021.653630 DOI=10.3389/fmed.2021.653630 ISSN=2296-858X ABSTRACT=

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) caused a global pandemic recently. The prevalence and persistence of antibodies following a peak SARS-CoV-2 infection provides insights into the potential for some level of population immunity. In June 2020, we succeeded in testing almost half of the population of an Austrian town with a higher incidence of COVID-19 infection. We performed a follow-up study to reassess the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2-specific IgA and IgG antibodies with 68 participants of the previous study. We found that the prevalence of IgG or IgA antibodies remained remarkably stable, with 84% of our cohort prevailing SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies (only a slight decrease from 93% 4 months before). In most patients with confirmed COVID-19 seroconversion potentially provides immunity to reinfection. Our results suggest a stable antibody response observed for at least 6 months post-infection with implications for developing strategies for testing and protecting the population.