Antibody response in COVID-19 patients with and without re-positive RT-PCR results during the convalescent phase.

Nucleic acid testing and antibody testing data from 143 recovered COVID-19 patients during the convalescent phase were retrospectively analyzed. A total of 23 (16.1%) recovered patients re-tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA by RT-PCR. Three months after symptom onset, 100% and 99.3% of the patients remained positive for total and IgG antibodies, and the antibody levels remained high. IgM antibodies declined rapidly, with a median time to seroconversion of 67 (95% CI: 59, 75) days after onset. Approximately 25% of patients were seronegative for IgA antibodies at three months after onset. There was no statistically significant difference in antibody kinetics between patients with and without re-positive RT-PCR results during the convalescent phase.
(© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature.)