Antibody Avidity Maturation during Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome–Associated Coronavirus Infection

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases 2005-07, Vol.192 (1), p.166-169
• Main Authors: Chan, Paul K. S., Lim, Pak-Leong, Liu, Esther Y. M., Cheung, Jo L. K., Leung, Danny T. M., Sung, Joseph J. Y.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Antibodies; Antibodies, Viral - physiology; Antibody affinity; Antibody Affinity - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Brief Reports; Disease outbreaks; Female; Fever; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Immunoglobulin G - physiology; Infections; Infectious diseases; Male; Medical sciences; Microbiology; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous; SARS; SARS coronavirus; SARS virus; SARS Virus - immunology; Severe acute respiratory syndrome; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - immunology; Time Factors; Virology; Viruses; Washing
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1086/430615

The maturation of virus-specific immunoglobulin G avidity during severe acute respiratory syndrome–associated coronavirus infection was examined. The avidity indices were low (mean ± SD, 30.8% ± 11.6%) among serum samples collected ⩽50 days after fever onset, intermediate (mean ± SD, 52.1% ± 14.1%) among samples collected between days 51 and 90, and high (mean ± SD, 78.1% ± 8.0%) among samples collected after day 90. Avidity indices of 40% and 55% could be considered as cutoff values for determination of recent (⩽50 days) and past (>65 days) infection, respectively. Measurement of antibody avidity can be used to differentiate primary infection from reexposure and to assess humoral responses to candidate vaccines