1. High levels of endemic coronaviruses reactive CD4+ T cells in SARS-CoV-2 seronegative health care workers
- Author
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Ricardo Filipe da Silva Antunes, Suresh Pallikkuth, Erin Williams, Esther Dawen Yu, Jose Mateus, Lorenzo Quiambao, Eric Wang, Stephen Rawlings, Daniel Stadlbauer, Kaijun Jiang, Fatima Amanat, David Arnold, David Andrews, Irma Fuego, Jennifer Dan, Alba Grifoni, Daniela Weiskopf, Florian Krammer, Shane Crotty, Michael Hoffer, Savita Pahwa, and Alessandro Sette
- Subjects
Immunology ,Immunology and Allergy - Abstract
Healthcare workers (HCW) due to occupational exposure to patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged as a population at risk during the current coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Pre-existing immunity induced by the exposition to several pathogens, including respiratory viruses, can shape susceptibility to infections but little is known about the presence of cross-reactive memory T cells that have the potential to recognize SARS-CoV-2. Herein we measured CD4+ T cell responses against common cold corona (CCC) viruses and SARS-CoV-2 in high-risk health care workers (HCW) and community controls. We observed higher levels of CCC reactive T cells in SARS-CoV-2 seronegative HCW compared to community donors, consistent with potential higher occupational exposure of HCW to CCC. We further show that SARS-CoV-2 reactivity of seronegative HCW was higher than community controls and correlation between CCC and SARS-CoV-2 responses shown to be consistent with cross-reactivity and not associated with recent in vivo activation. Surprisingly, CCC reactivity was consistently decreased in SARS-CoV-2 infected HCW, suggesting that exposure to SARS-CoV-2 might interfere with CCC responses, either directly or indirectly. This result was unexpected, but consistently detected in independent cohorts derived from Miami and San Diego.
- Published
- 2021
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