Neutralizing Antibody Response and SARS Severity

Neutralizing Antibody Response and SARS Severity

Mei-Shang Ho, Wei-Ju Chen, Hour-Young Chen, Szu-Fong Lin, Min-Chin Wang, Jiali Di, Yen-Ta Lu, Ching-Lung Liu, Shan-Chwen Chang, Chung-Liang Chao, Chwan-Chuen King, Jeng-Min Chiou, Ih-Jen Su, Jyh-Yuan Yang

Using the Taiwan nationwide laboratory-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) database, we analyzed neutralizing antibody in relation to clinical outcomes. With a linear mixed model, neutralizing antibody titer was shown to peak between week 5 and week 8 after onset and to decline thereafter, with a half-life of 6.4 weeks. Patients with a longer illness showed a lower neutralizing antibody response than patients with a shorter illness duration (p = 0.008). When early responders were compared with most patients, who seroconverted on and after week 3 of illness, the small proportion (17.4%) of early responders (antibody detectable within 2 weeks) had a higher death rate (29.6% vs. 7.8%) (Fisher exact test, p = 0.004), had a shorter survival time of 60 years of age (Fisher exact test, p = 0.01). Our findings have implications for understanding the pathogenesis of SARS and for SARS vaccine research and development.

2005

SARS, neutralizing antibody, Antibody decay, Mortality, pathogenesis, ADE

DOI: 10.3201/eid1111.040659

Emerging Infectious Diseases

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Infectious and parasitic diseases, Medicine

EN