Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34921220›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2021

No neutralizing effect of pre-existing tick-borne encephalitis virus antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2: a prospective healthcare worker study.

Philipp Kohler, Hulda R Jonsdottir, Lorenz Risch, Pietro Vernazza, Rahel Ackermann-Gäumann, Christian R Kahlert

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.1field-weighted citation impact, top 55% 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

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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

6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Philipp Kohler *Division of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, Cantonal Hospital St Gallen, St Gallen, Switzerland. philipp.kohler@kssg.ch.
Hulda R Jonsdottir *Spiez Laboratory, Federal Office for Civil Protection, Spiez, Switzerland.
Lorenz RischLabormedizinisches Zentrum Dr. Risch, Buchs, Switzerland.
Pietro VernazzaDivision of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, Cantonal Hospital St Gallen, St Gallen, Switzerland.
Rahel Ackermann-Gäumann *Spiez Laboratory, Federal Office for Civil Protection, Spiez, Switzerland.
Christian R Kahlert *Division of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, Cantonal Hospital St Gallen, St Gallen, Switzerland.
Kantonsspital St. Gallen · CHLabormedizinische Zentrum Dr Risch (Switzerland) · CHSpiez Laboratory · CHUniversity of Bern · CH

Funding

Bundesamt für Gesundheit 20.008218/421-28/1Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung 31CA30_196544
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Certain immunizations including vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) have been suggested to confer cross-protection against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Within a prospective healthcare worker (HCW) cohort, we assessed the potentially protective role of anti-TBEV antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Among 3352 HCW, those with ≥ 1 previous TBEV vaccination (n = 2018, 60%) showed a reduced risk of SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion (adjusted odds ratio: 0.8, 95% CI: 0.7-1.0, P = 0.02). However, laboratory testing of a subgroup of 26 baseline and follow-up samples did not demonstrate any neutralizing effect of anti-TBEV antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in live-virus neutralization assay. However, we observed significantly higher anti-TBEV antibody titers in follow-up samples of participants with previous TBEV vaccination compared to baseline, both TBEV neutralizing (p = 0.001) and total IgG (P < 0.0001), irrespective of SARS-CoV-2 serostatus. Based on these data, we conclude that the observed association of previous TBEV vaccination and reduced risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection is likely due to residual confounding factors. The increase in TBEV follow-up antibody titers can be explained by natural TBEV exposure or potential non-specific immune activation upon exposure to various pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2. We believe that these findings, although negative, contribute to the current knowledge on potential cross-immunity against SARS-CoV-2 from previous immunizations.

Indexed as

AdultAntibodies, NeutralizingAntibodies, ViralCOVID-19Cross ProtectionEncephalitis, Tick-BorneEncephalitis Viruses, Tick-BorneFemaleHealth PersonnelHumansImmunoglobulin GMaleMiddle AgedPandemicsProspective StudiesSARS-CoV-2Antibodies, NeutralizingAntibodies, ViralImmunoglobulin G

Identifiers

PMID34921220
PMCPMC8683403
OpenAlexW4200196705

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.