ArticleNature communications2022
Relative infectiousness of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine breakthrough infections, reinfections, and primary infections.
Article in Nature communications, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 53 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
53 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Incidence and outcome of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection in the pre-Omicron era: A global systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of global health · 2023Pooled it
- SARS-CoV-2 vaccine breakthrough infection in the older adults: a meta-analysis and systematic review.BMC infectious diseases · 2023Pooled it
- Projected public health benefits of a hypothetical HSV-1 vaccine in the United States: A mathematical modeling analysis.Science advances · 2026Article
- Day-by-Day Distribution of SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR Cycle Threshold Values in Outpatient Care: Associations with Symptom Onset and Fever Severity.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Bang-bang control optimization in infectious disease model with incorporating breakthrough and reinfection.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Modeling the effectiveness of RT-PCR, RT-LAMP, and antigen testing strategies for COVID-19 control.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Vaccination as a strategy for Chlamydia trachomatis control: a global mathematical modeling analysis.BMC global and public health · 2025Article
- The effect of COVID-19 vaccination on viral load among health care workers: a retrospective cohort study.Clinical and experimental vaccine research · 2025Article
- Adjuvanted subunit intranasal vaccine reduces SARS-CoV-2 onward transmission in hamsters.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- Article
- Passive infusion of an S2-Stem broadly neutralizing antibody protects against SARS-CoV-2 infection and lower airway inflammation in rhesus macaques.PLoS pathogens · 2025Article
- Uncertainty in COVID-19 transmission could undermine our ability to predict long COVID.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2024Article
- Cycle Threshold Values of SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR during Outbreaks in Nursing Homes: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Epidemiologia (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Passive infusion of an S2-Stem broadly neutralizing antibody protects against SARS-CoV-2 infection and lower airway inflammation in rhesus macaques.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Impact of a potential Chlamydia vaccine in the USA: mathematical modelling analyses.BMJ public health · 2024Article
- A mini review of reinfection with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant.Health science reports · 2024Article
- Seroincidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection prior to and during the rollout of vaccines in a community-based prospective cohort of U.S. adults.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Association of Prior COVID-19 Infection with Risk of Breakthrough Infection Following Vaccination: A Cohort Study in Isfahan, Iran.International journal of preventive medicine · 2024Article
- Does the COVID-19 Vaccination Reduce the Risk to Transmit SARS-CoV-2 to Others?Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2024Review
- Addressing bias in the definition of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection: implications for underestimation.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
23 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections in vaccinated individuals and in those who had a prior infection have been observed globally, but the transmission potential of these infections is unknown. The RT-qPCR cycle threshold (Ct) value is inversely correlated with viral load and culturable virus. Here, we investigate differences in RT-qPCR Ct values across Qatar's national cohorts of primary infections, reinfections, BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) breakthrough infections, and mRNA-1273 (Moderna) breakthrough infections. Our matched-cohort analyses of the randomly diagnosed infections show higher mean Ct value in all cohorts of breakthrough infections compared to the cohort of primary infections in unvaccinated individuals. The Ct value is 1.3 (95% CI: 0.9-1.8) cycles higher for BNT162b2 breakthrough infections, 3.2 (95% CI: 1.9-4.5) cycles higher for mRNA-1273 breakthrough infections, and 4.0 (95% CI: 3.5-4.5) cycles higher for reinfections in unvaccinated individuals. Since Ct value correlates inversely with SARS-CoV-2 infectiousness, these differences imply that vaccine breakthrough infections and reinfections are less infectious than primary infections in unvaccinated individuals. Public health benefits of vaccination may have been underestimated, as COVID-19 vaccines not only protect against acquisition of infection, but also appear to protect against transmission of infection.
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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.