Abstract

The spread of SARS-CoV-2 represented a global health crisis. On May 5, 2023, the chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) officially announced the end of COVID-19 as a global health emergency. Serological assays can identify previously infected SARS-CoV-2 individuals, even if they did not go for testing while acutely ill. The current study sought to detect antibodies directed against the nucleocapsid of SARS-CoV-2 (IgG against the SARS-CoV-2 N protein) in both vaccinated and unvaccinated COVID-19 individuals. Of the 100 participants, 53 and 47 were vaccinated and unvaccinated, respectively. The vaccination status of the cohort based on gender data indicates that 41 (41%) of all participants were vaccinated males, whereas 12 (12%) were vaccinated females. We found that 42 (42%) were unvaccinated males and 5 (5%) were unvaccinated females. Of 53 vaccinated subjects, 42 and 11 participants were positive and negative for IgG against the SARS-CoV-2 N protein, respectively. Of 47 unvaccinated participants, 28 and 19 were positive and negative for IgG against the SARS-CoV-2 N protein, respectively. The average of S/P “Sample/Positive control” percentages, which correlate to levels of IgG against SARS-CoV-2 N protein, were significantly higher among the vaccinated patients (73.8%) as compared to non-vaccinated patients (57.1%), with p = 0.02. There was a downward trend in levels of IgG against the SARS-CoV-2 N protein with increasing age, except for the 60–69 age group.

Details

Title
Seroprevalence of IgG Antibodies Against SARS-CoV-2 N Protein Among Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Subjects in Lahore, Pakistan
Author
Donia, A 1 ; Nawaz, M 2 ; Shahid, M F 2 ; Shahid, R 3 ; Javed, A 4 ; Yaqub, T 2 ; Bokhari, H 5 

 Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Science, COMSATS University Islamabad – Islamabad, Pakistan; Institute for Water and Wastewater Technology, Durban University of Technology – Durban, South Africa 
 Institute of Microbiology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences – Lahore, Pakistan 
 Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Science, COMSATS University Islamabad – Islamabad, Pakistan 
 Healthcare Biotechnology, Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences, National University of Science and Technology – Islamabad, Pakistan 
 Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Science, COMSATS University Islamabad – Islamabad, Pakistan; Kohsar University Murree – Murree, Pakistan 
Pages
30-35
Publication year
2024
Publication date
2024
Publisher
De Gruyter Brill Sp. z o.o., Paradigm Publishing Services
ISSN
27195384
e-ISSN
03241750
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3159315890
Copyright
© 2024. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.