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07/07/2022 - Covid-19

Immunoglobulin treatment for patients with primary immunodeficiencies is found to enable them to acquire antibodies against COVID-19

A study on the vaccine response of patients with primary antibody deficiency carried out by the Functional Unit of Primary Immunodeficiencies at Hospital del Mar together with the dibi Network (Reference Laboratory of Catalonia) has revealed that a good number of these people have antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 without actually having contracted COVID-19. The study, published in the journal Immunology, is the first to certify the transmission of antinucleocapsid antibodies (ANC) from donors to patients with primary immunodeficiency.

Some of the authors of the study

The study showed, in samples from 19 patients with some form of primary immunodeficiency, that their response to the COVID-19 vaccine was weaker than expected. However, 44% already had SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, even though they had not had the disease. The source of the antibodies was found to be the monthly immunoglobulin treatment administered to them, as from June 2021 the preparations included donations from people who had been in contact with COVID-19. However, the researchers point out that it is not possible to determine whether the presence of these has had a protective effect against the disease.

This work by the Functional Unit of Primary Immunodeficiencies at Hospital del Mar has been carried out in collaboration with staff from the Paediatrics, Internal Medicine, Pharmacy, Infectious Diseases, Pathology and Nephrology departments at the same hospital, as well as researchers from the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute. This is the second publication on aspects related to COVID-19 produced by the unit.

Reference articles:

Eguía J, Caballero-Rabasco MA, Cos ML, Grau S, Mellibovsky L, Villegas E, Blasco F, Lemus A, Crespo M, Padilla E, Gimeno R. Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in patients with primary immunodeficiencies treated with nonspecific immunoglobulins. Immunology. 2022 May 15. doi: 10.1111/imm.13495. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35570365.

Cos Esquius ML, López Montesinos I, Gimeno Martinez R, Eguía Núñez J, Caballero-Rabasco MA, Sánchez González B, López García A, Mellibovsky L. Severe COVID-19 pneumonia in Good syndrome with a favorable outcome. Clin Immunol. 2022 Feb;235:108789. doi: 10.1016/j.clim.2021.108789. Epub 2021 Jun 29. PMID: 34197951; PMCID: PMC8239200.

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