Humoral and T cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 reveal insights into immunity during the early pandemic period in Pakistan.
Kiran Iqbal MasoodShama QaiserSyed Hani AbidiErum KhanSyed Faisal MahmoodAreeba HussainZara GhousKhekahsan ImtiazNatasha AliMuhammad HasanHaris Ali MemonMaliha YameenShiza AliSadaf BalochGulzar LakhaniPaula M AlvesNajeeha Talat IqbalKumail AhmedJunaid IqbalZulfiqar A BhuttaRabia HussainMartin RottenbergJ Pedro SimasMarc VeldhoenKulsoom GhiasZahra HasanPublished in: BMC infectious diseases (2023)
Antibody and T cell responses to Spike protein in individuals from the pre-pandemic period suggest prior immunity against SARS-CoV-2, most likely from cross-reactive responses. The rising seroprevalence observed in healthy individuals through the pandemic without known COVID-19 may be due to the activation of adaptive immunity from cross-reactive memory B and T cells. This may explain the more favourable COVID-19 outcomes observed in this population.