M.D. MSc.
Ho Quang Minh
Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City
Title: Titers of neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 among HIV/AIDS patients admitted to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases.
Ho Quang Minh, MD, MMed
Laboratory Department, Hospital for Tropical Diseases
Monitoring neutralizing antibody titers is essential for evaluating the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination and supporting public health strategies and follow-up recommendations. Individuals with different immune profiles may respond differently to vaccination, resulting in variable vaccine effectiveness. This study aimed to assess the titers of neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 among HIV/AIDS patients and to determine the factors associated with antibodies levels.
A case-series study was conducted at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases (HTD) from May 2022 to March 2023. All HIV – postive patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection who were admitted during study period were included. Neutralizing antibody titers were measured using the Elecsys Anti ‑ SARS ‑ CoV ‑ 2 (Roche, Germany) and the GenScript surrogate virus neutralization test (USA), which detect antibodies against the nucleocapside (N) protein and Spike (S) protein.
Thirty patients were enrolled in the study. The mean age was 37,6 ± 10,4 years; 90% were male; and 40% were newly diagnosed HIV infection. Regarding vaccination history, only one patient had not received vaccine, while half of patients had received 3 doses. The mean CD4 T-cell was 28 cells/uL. The rate of respiratory failure, ICU admission, and mortality was 60% (18/30), 73.7% (22/30), and 36.7% (11/30), respectively. The mean titer of neutralizing antibodies against the N-protein was 6.5 ± 20.6 at admission and 24.7 ± 47.1 (IU/mL) at discharge. For the S – protein, the mean titer was 1063.5 ± 2882.6 (IU/mL) at admission and 2281.9 ± 4216.7 (IU/mL) at discharge. The prevalence of N-protein seroconversion was 30.4% (7/24). No significant association was found between the titers of N-protein and S-protein neutralizing antibodies and ICU admission (p = 0,088 and 0,308), acute respiratory distress (p = 0,11 and 0,477), or mortality (p =0,58 and 0,41), respectively. Antibodies titers were also not significantly associated with the Ct value of SARS-CoV-2 in real-time PCR.
The titers of neutralizing antibodies after vaccination and the seroconversion rate among HIV/AIDS patients was significantly lower than those reported in individuals without HIV infection. No significant associations was observed between neutralizing antibody titers and clinical outcomes in this study population.
Biography of the presenting author
Dr. Ho Quang Minh is working at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City as a clinical microbiologist and infectious disease physician. His research interests include building antibiotic stewardship programs, molecular techniques for the diagnosis and treatment of multidrug-resistant bacteria, and developing infection control strategies in epidemiology.
Presenting author details
Full name: Ho Quang Minh
Contact number: 0979323045
Email: minhquangho4@gmail.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ho-minh-337695249
Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ho-Minh-6?ev=hdr_xprf
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=LF6IA_4AAAAJ&hl=en
ResearcherID:
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5468-2199
Website:
Session name/ number: Vaccine development
Category: Oral presentation