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Open Access 01-12-2022 | SARS-CoV-2 | Research

The oldest unvaccinated Covid-19 survivors in South America

Authors: Mateus V. de Castro, Monize V. R. Silva, Michel S. Naslavsky, Marilia O. Scliar, Kelly Nunes, Maria Rita Passos-Bueno, Erick C. Castelli, Jhosiene Y. Magawa, Flávia L. Adami, Ana I. S. Moretti, Vivian L. de Oliveira, Silvia B. Boscardin, Edecio Cunha-Neto, Jorge Kalil, Emmanuelle Jouanguy, Paul Bastard, Jean-Laurent Casanova, Mauricio Quiñones-Vega, Patricia Sosa-Acosta, Jéssica de S. Guedes, Natália P. de Almeida, Fábio C. S. Nogueira, Gilberto B. Domont, Keity S. Santos, Mayana Zatz

Published in: Immunity & Ageing | Issue 1/2022

Abstract

Background

Although older adults are at a high risk of severe or critical Covid-19, there are many cases of unvaccinated centenarians who had a silent infection or recovered from mild or moderate Covid-19. We studied three Brazilian supercentenarians, older than 110 years, who survived Covid-19 in 2020 before being vaccinated.

Results

Despite their advanced age, humoral immune response analysis showed that these individuals displayed robust levels of IgG and neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) against SARS-CoV-2. Enrichment of plasma proteins and metabolites related to innate immune response and host defense was also observed. None presented autoantibodies (auto-Abs) to type I interferon (IFN). Furthermore, these supercentenarians do not carry rare variants in genes underlying the known inborn errors of immunity, including particular inborn errors of type I IFN.

Conclusion

These observations suggest that their Covid-19 resilience might be a combination of their genetic background and their innate and adaptive immunity.

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Title: The oldest unvaccinated Covid-19 survivors in South America
Authors: Mateus V. de Castro
Monize V. R. Silva
Michel S. Naslavsky
Marilia O. Scliar
Kelly Nunes
Maria Rita Passos-Bueno
Erick C. Castelli
Jhosiene Y. Magawa
Flávia L. Adami
Ana I. S. Moretti
Vivian L. de Oliveira
Silvia B. Boscardin
Edecio Cunha-Neto
Jorge Kalil
Emmanuelle Jouanguy
Paul Bastard
Jean-Laurent Casanova
Mauricio Quiñones-Vega
Patricia Sosa-Acosta
Jéssica de S. Guedes
Natália P. de Almeida
Fábio C. S. Nogueira
Gilberto B. Domont
Keity S. Santos
Mayana Zatz
Publication date: 01-12-2022
Publisher: BioMed Central
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2
COVID-19
Published in: Immunity & Ageing / Issue 1/2022
Electronic ISSN: 1742-4933
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12979-022-00310-y

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