Progressive and Parallel Decline of Humoral and T-Cell Immunity in Convalescent Healthcare Workers with Asymptomatic or Mild-to-Moderate Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection

Abstract

We investigated the duration of humoral and T-cell immune response in paired samples among 22 convalescent healthcare workers (HCWs). A median of 1.8 months after diagnosis, T-cell response was significantly lower in HCWs with early loss of antibodies (6 cases [27%]). After 5.1 months, antibody decline was observed in 77% of cases (41% seroreverted; P < .01), and 36% had lost T-cell response (75% lost response to spike protein). Persistence of immune response was observed in those who developed a greater adaptive immune response. Our data point to the initial immune response as the relevant player in coronavirus disease 2019 duration of protection.