Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42033975›Full record

ArticleVaccine2026

mRNA COVID-19 vaccination induces minimal IgA in saliva in the absence of prior clinical or subclinical infection.

Tonia L Conner, Emilie Goguet, Hannah Haines-Hull, Allison Segard, Emily S Darcey, Priscilla Kobi, Bolatito Balogun, Cara Olsen, Dominic Esposito, Milissa U Jones and 7 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Vaccine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

17 authors.

Tonia L ConnerDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Emilie GoguetDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA; Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc., Bethesda, MD, USA.
Hannah Haines-HullDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA; Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc., Bethesda, MD, USA.
Allison SegardDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA; Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc., Bethesda, MD, USA.
Emily S DarceyDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA; Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc., Bethesda, MD, USA.
Priscilla KobiHenry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc., Bethesda, MD, USA; Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Program, Department of Preventive Medicine & Biostatistics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Bolatito BalogunHenry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc., Bethesda, MD, USA; Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Program, Department of Preventive Medicine & Biostatistics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Cara OlsenDepartment of Preventive Medicine & Biostatistics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Dominic EspositoNCI RAS Initiative, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, USA.
Milissa U JonesTranslational Medicine Unit, Department of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Timothy H BurgessInfectious Diseases Clinical Research Program, Department of Preventive Medicine & Biostatistics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Robert J O'ConnellInfectious Diseases Clinical Research Program, Department of Preventive Medicine & Biostatistics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Christopher C BroderDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA.
David SaundersTranslational Medicine Unit, Department of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Simon PollettHenry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc., Bethesda, MD, USA; Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Program, Department of Preventive Medicine & Biostatistics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Eric D LaingDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Edward MitreDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA. Electronic address: edward.mitre@usuhs.edu.

Funding

NIAID NIH HHS Y01 AI005072
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In this prospective cohort study, we analyzed saliva IgA and IgG antibody levels over the first two years of the pandemic after COVID-19 mRNA vaccination and infection. Generally healthy adult healthcare workers with no evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection were enrolled into the Prospective Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 Seroconversion (PASS) study between August of 2020 and March of 2021. Utilizing multiplex microsphere-based immunoassays, we measured saliva anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike IgG, IgA, and secretory IgA in 1224 saliva samples collected from 266 individuals between August of 2020 through December of 2022. By the summer of 2022, 45.2% of the cohort had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by antigen or PCR test at least once and another 42.2% had evidence of prior subclinical infection as denoted by a doubling in saliva anti-SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) IgG level. While many individuals had elevations in saliva spike-specific antibodies by spring of 2022, analyses revealed that most elevations in saliva spike-specific IgA and secretory IgA were driven by subclinical and clinically evident infections. Removal of saliva samples after positive COVID-19 testing or evidence of subclinical infection revealed that two doses of BNT162b2 induced only minimal (1.6-fold) increases in saliva anti-spike IgA levels at one month after the second vaccination. In contrast, saliva anti-spike IgG was strongly induced by vaccination and exhibited improved durability with hybrid immunity. We also observed that females produced higher levels of saliva anti-spike IgA and IgG antibodies than males in response to mRNA vaccination, that the half-life of anti-spike IgG in saliva after two mRNA vaccine doses is ∼90 days, and that in the setting of hybrid immunity saliva anti-spike IgA levels are greater when infection follows vaccination than when vaccination follows infection. This study demonstrates that intramuscular mRNA vaccines are weak inducers of IgA antibodies in saliva.

Indexed as

Antibodies, ViralCOVID-19COVID-19 VaccinesImmunoglobulin ASalivaSARS-CoV-2AdultAsymptomatic InfectionsBNT162 VaccineFemaleHumansImmunoglobulin A, SecretoryImmunoglobulin GMaleMiddle AgedProspective StudiesAntibodies, ViralBNT162 VaccineCOVID-19 VaccinesImmunoglobulin AImmunoglobulin A, SecretoryImmunoglobulin GSpike Glycoprotein, Coronavirusspike protein, SARS-CoV-2Vaccines, SyntheticCOVID-19 mRNA vaccineMucosal immunitySaliva antibodiesSARS-CoV-2 infectionSecretory IgA (SIgA)Subclinical infection

Identifiers

PMID42033975
PMCPMC13333103

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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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.