Resurgence of COVID-19 in Manaus, Brazil, despite high seroprevalence

• Published in: The Lancet (British edition) Vol. 397; no. 10273; pp. 452 - 455
• Main Authors: Sabino, Ester C, Buss, Lewis F, Carvalho, Maria P S, Prete, Carlos A, Crispim, Myuki A E, Fraiji, Nelson A, Pereira, Rafael H M, Parag, Kris V, da Silva Peixoto, Pedro, Kraemer, Moritz U G, Oikawa, Marcio K, Salomon, Tassila, Cucunuba, Zulma M, Castro, Márcia C, de Souza Santos, Andreza Aruska, Nascimento, Vítor H, Pereira, Henrique S, Ferguson, Neil M, Pybus, Oliver G, Kucharski, Adam, Busch, Michael P, Dye, Christopher, Faria, Nuno R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 06.02.2021; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Antibodies; Blood & organ donations; Blood donors; Brazil; Comment; Constellations; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 - virology; Data retrieval; Disease control; Epidemics; Epidemiology; Herd immunity; Humans; Immunity; Infections; Medical research; Mutation; Polyclonal antibodies; Population; Public health; Seroepidemiologic Studies; Serology; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Spike protein; Time Factors; Viral diseases; Websites; Brazil; United Kingdom > UK
• ISSN: 0140-6736; 1474-547X
• DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00183-5

[...]immunity against infection might have already begun to wane by December, 2020, because of a general decrease in immune protection against SARS-CoV-2 after a first exposure. [...]SARS-CoV-2 lineages might evade immunity generated in response to previous infection.15 Three recently detected SARS-CoV-2 lineages (B.1.1.7, B.1.351, and P.1), are unusually divergent and each possesses a unique constellation of mutations of potential biological importance.16–18 Of these, two are circulating in Brazil (B.1.1.7 and P.1) and one (P.1) was detected in Manaus on Jan 12, 2021.16 One case of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection has been associated with the P.1 lineage in Manaus19 that accrued ten unique spike protein mutations, including E484K and N501K.16 Moreover, the newly classified P.2 lineage (sublineage of B.1.128 that independently accrued the spike E484K mutation) has now been detected in several locations in Brazil, including Manaus.20 P.2 variants with the E484K mutation have been detected in two people who have been reinfected with SARS-CoV-2 in Brazil,21,22 and there is in-vitro evidence that the presence of the E484K mutation reduces neutralisation by polyclonal antibodies in convalescent sera.15 Fourth, SARS-CoV-2 lineages circulating in the second wave might have higher inherent transmissibility than pre-existing lineages circulating in Manaus. The protocols and findings of such studies should be coordinated and rapidly shared wherever such variants emerge and spread. Since rapid data sharing is the basis for the development and implementation of actionable disease control measures during public health emergencies, we are openly sharing in real-time monthly curated serosurvey data from blood donors through the Brazil–UK Centre for Arbovirus Discovery, Diagnosis, Genomics and Epidemiology (CADDE) Centre GitHub website and will continue to share genetic sequence data and results from Manaus through openly accessible data platforms such as GISAID and Virological.