• Medientyp: E-Artikel
  • Titel: Transient Positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR without Induction of Systemic Immune Responses
  • Beteiligte: Gärtner, Barbara C.; Klemis, Verena; Schmidt, Tina; Sester, Martina; Meyer, Tim
  • Erschienen: MDPI AG, 2023
  • Erschienen in: Vaccines, 11 (2023) 2, Seite 482
  • Sprache: Englisch
  • DOI: 10.3390/vaccines11020482
  • ISSN: 2076-393X
  • Entstehung:
  • Anmerkungen:
  • Beschreibung: SARS-CoV-2 testing is dominated by PCR to guide treatment and individual as well as public health preventive measures. Among 1700 football (soccer) players and staff of the German Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 who were regularly tested by PCR twice weekly, 98 individuals had a positive PCR (May 2020 to mid-January 2021). A subset of these were retested shortly after the initial positive result. Among those, 11 subjects were identified who only had a transient single positive PCR of low viral load. All individuals were asymptomatic and none developed long COVID. We tested SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgA as well as SARS-CoV-2 specific CD4 und CD8 positive T cells, and showed that only one out of 11 individuals developed SARS-CoV-2 specific cellular and humoral immunity after the positive PCR, whereas a specific immunity was undetectable in all other individuals. Thus, a single positive PCR might indicate that transient colonization of the upper respiratory tract with SARS-CoV-2 may occur without systemic induction of specific adaptive immunity. Together with test artifacts as another potential reason for a transiently positive test, this finding may favor cautious interpretation of positive PCR results or retesting before initiating intervening treatment or infection control measures in some cases.
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