Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34222846›Full record

ArticleEClinicalMedicine2021

Centenarians and extremely old people living with frailty can elicit durable SARS-CoV-2 spike specific IgG antibodies with virus neutralization functions following virus infection as determined by serological study.

Mary K Foley, Samuel D Searle, Ali Toloue, Ryan Booth, Alec Falkenham, Darryl Falzarano, Salvatore Rubino, Magen E Francis, Mara McNeil, Christopher Richardson and 9 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in EClinicalMedicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 21% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Mortality Trends in Pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 Eras Among Oldest Veterans.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

19 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.

Mary K FoleyDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4R2, Canada.
Samuel D SearleDivsion of Geriatrics, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4R2, Canada.
Ali ToloueDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4R2, Canada.
Ryan BoothDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4R2, Canada.
Alec FalkenhamDepartment of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4R2, Canada.
Darryl FalzaranoVaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO), University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5E3, Canada.
Salvatore RubinoDipartimento di Scienze Biomediche, Università degli Studi di Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
Magen E FrancisDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4R2, Canada.
Mara McNeilDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4R2, Canada.
Christopher RichardsonDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4R2, Canada.
Jason LeBlancDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4R2, Canada.
Sharon OldfordCanadian Centre for Vaccinology, IWK Health Centre, Nova Scotia, Halifax, B3K 6R8 Canada.
Volker GerdtsVaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO), University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5E3, Canada.
Melissa K AndrewDivsion of Geriatrics, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4R2, Canada.
Shelly A McNeilVaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO), University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5E3, Canada.
Barry ClarkeDepartment of Family Medicine, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Halifax, B3H 4R2, Canada.
Kenneth RockwoodDivsion of Geriatrics, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4R2, Canada.
David J KelvinDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4R2, Canada.
Alyson A KelvinDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4R2, Canada.
Dalhousie University · CAUniversity of Saskatchewan · CAIzaak Walton Killam Health Centre · CAUniversity of Sassari · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2) has led to more than 165 million COVID-19 cases and >3.4 million deaths worldwide. Epidemiological analysis has revealed that the risk of developing severe COVID-19 increases with age. Despite a disproportionate number of older individuals and long-term care facilities being affected by SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, very little is understood about the immune responses and development of humoral immunity in the extremely old person after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Here we conducted a serological study to investigate the development of humoral immunity in centenarians following a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in a long-term care facility.

methodsExtreme aged individuals and centenarians who were residents in a long-term care facility and infected with or exposed to SARS-CoV-2 were investigated between April and June 2020 for the development of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. Blood samples were collected from positive and bystander individuals 30 and 60 days after original diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Plasma was used to quantify IgG, IgA, and IgM isotypes and subsequent subclasses of antibodies specific for SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. The function of anti-spike was then assessed by virus neutralization assays against the native SARS-CoV-2 virus.

findingsFifteen long-term care residents were investigated for SARS-CoV-2 infection. All individuals had a Clinical Frailty scale score ≥5 and were of extreme older age or were centenarians. Six women with a median age of 98.8 years tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Anti-spike IgG antibody titers were the highest titers observed in our cohort with all IgG positive individuals having virus neutralization ability. Additionally, 5 out of the 6 positive participants had a robust IgA anti-SARS-CoV-2 response. In all 5, antibodies were detected after 60 days from initial diagnosis.

Identifiers

PMID34222846
PMCPMC8235995
OpenAlexW3173679744

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.