Evidence for Deleterious Antigenic Imprinting in SARS-CoV-2 Immune Response.

Infections with SARS-COV-2 result in diverse disease outcomes, ranging from asymptomatic to fatal. The mechanisms underlying different disease outcomes remain largely unexplained. Previously, our laboratory identified a strong association between the presence of an antibody and increased disease severity in a subset of COVID-19 patients. Here, we report that this severity-associated antibody cross-reacts with viral proteins from an influenza A viral strain from 2014. Therefore, we speculate that antibodies generated against previous infections, like the 2014 influenza A, play a significant role in directing some peoples’ immune responses against SARS-COV-2. Such understanding of the sources and drivers of COVID-19 disease severity can help early identification and pre-emptive treatment.