Covid-19 Breakthrough Infections in Vaccinated Health Care Workers.


Journal

The New England journal of medicine
ISSN: 1533-4406
Titre abrégé: N Engl J Med
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 0255562

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
14 10 2021
Historique:
pubmed: 29 7 2021
medline: 6 1 2022
entrez: 28 7 2021
Statut: ppublish

Résumé

Despite the high efficacy of the BNT162b2 messenger RNA vaccine against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), rare breakthrough infections have been reported, including infections among health care workers. Data are needed to characterize these infections and define correlates of breakthrough and infectivity. At the largest medical center in Israel, we identified breakthrough infections by performing extensive evaluations of health care workers who were symptomatic (including mild symptoms) or had known infection exposure. These evaluations included epidemiologic investigations, repeat reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR) assays, antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic testing (Ag-RDT), serologic assays, and genomic sequencing. Correlates of breakthrough infection were assessed in a case-control analysis. We matched patients with breakthrough infection who had antibody titers obtained within a week before SARS-CoV-2 detection (peri-infection period) with four to five uninfected controls and used generalized estimating equations to predict the geometric mean titers among cases and controls and the ratio between the titers in the two groups. We also assessed the correlation between neutralizing antibody titers and N gene cycle threshold (Ct) values with respect to infectivity. Among 1497 fully vaccinated health care workers for whom RT-PCR data were available, 39 SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections were documented. Neutralizing antibody titers in case patients during the peri-infection period were lower than those in matched uninfected controls (case-to-control ratio, 0.361; 95% confidence interval, 0.165 to 0.787). Higher peri-infection neutralizing antibody titers were associated with lower infectivity (higher Ct values). Most breakthrough cases were mild or asymptomatic, although 19% had persistent symptoms (>6 weeks). The B.1.1.7 (alpha) variant was found in 85% of samples tested. A total of 74% of case patients had a high viral load (Ct value, <30) at some point during their infection; however, of these patients, only 17 (59%) had a positive result on concurrent Ag-RDT. No secondary infections were documented. Among fully vaccinated health care workers, the occurrence of breakthrough infections with SARS-CoV-2 was correlated with neutralizing antibody titers during the peri-infection period. Most breakthrough infections were mild or asymptomatic, although persistent symptoms did occur.

Sections du résumé

BACKGROUND
Despite the high efficacy of the BNT162b2 messenger RNA vaccine against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), rare breakthrough infections have been reported, including infections among health care workers. Data are needed to characterize these infections and define correlates of breakthrough and infectivity.
METHODS
At the largest medical center in Israel, we identified breakthrough infections by performing extensive evaluations of health care workers who were symptomatic (including mild symptoms) or had known infection exposure. These evaluations included epidemiologic investigations, repeat reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR) assays, antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic testing (Ag-RDT), serologic assays, and genomic sequencing. Correlates of breakthrough infection were assessed in a case-control analysis. We matched patients with breakthrough infection who had antibody titers obtained within a week before SARS-CoV-2 detection (peri-infection period) with four to five uninfected controls and used generalized estimating equations to predict the geometric mean titers among cases and controls and the ratio between the titers in the two groups. We also assessed the correlation between neutralizing antibody titers and N gene cycle threshold (Ct) values with respect to infectivity.
RESULTS
Among 1497 fully vaccinated health care workers for whom RT-PCR data were available, 39 SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections were documented. Neutralizing antibody titers in case patients during the peri-infection period were lower than those in matched uninfected controls (case-to-control ratio, 0.361; 95% confidence interval, 0.165 to 0.787). Higher peri-infection neutralizing antibody titers were associated with lower infectivity (higher Ct values). Most breakthrough cases were mild or asymptomatic, although 19% had persistent symptoms (>6 weeks). The B.1.1.7 (alpha) variant was found in 85% of samples tested. A total of 74% of case patients had a high viral load (Ct value, <30) at some point during their infection; however, of these patients, only 17 (59%) had a positive result on concurrent Ag-RDT. No secondary infections were documented.
CONCLUSIONS
Among fully vaccinated health care workers, the occurrence of breakthrough infections with SARS-CoV-2 was correlated with neutralizing antibody titers during the peri-infection period. Most breakthrough infections were mild or asymptomatic, although persistent symptoms did occur.

Identifiants

pubmed: 34320281
doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2109072
pmc: PMC8362591
doi:

Substances chimiques

COVID-19 Vaccines 0
BNT162 Vaccine N38TVC63NU

Types de publication

Journal Article Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Langues

eng

Sous-ensembles de citation

IM

Pagination

1474-1484

Subventions

Organisme : NCI NIH HHS
ID : U01 CA261277
Pays : United States

Commentaires et corrections

Type : CommentIn
Type : CommentIn
Type : CommentIn

Informations de copyright

Copyright © 2021 Massachusetts Medical Society.

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Auteurs

Moriah Bergwerk (M)

From the Infection Prevention and Control Unit (M.B., T.G., C.C., E.G.L., C.R., I.T., M.Z., G.R.-Y.), the Department of Clinical Microbiology (S.A.), General Management (Y.K.), and the Central Virology Laboratory, Public Health Authority, Ministry of Health (Y.L., M.M., V.I., N.Z.), Sheba Medical Center Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv (T.G., Y.L., M.M., E.G.L., Y.K., G.R.-Y.), and the Laboratory Wing, Asaf Harofe Medical Center, Be'er Ya'akov (A.B.-C.) - all in Israel; St. George's School of Medicine of London and Faculty of Medicine, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus (M.B.); and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston (M.L.).

Tal Gonen (T)

From the Infection Prevention and Control Unit (M.B., T.G., C.C., E.G.L., C.R., I.T., M.Z., G.R.-Y.), the Department of Clinical Microbiology (S.A.), General Management (Y.K.), and the Central Virology Laboratory, Public Health Authority, Ministry of Health (Y.L., M.M., V.I., N.Z.), Sheba Medical Center Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv (T.G., Y.L., M.M., E.G.L., Y.K., G.R.-Y.), and the Laboratory Wing, Asaf Harofe Medical Center, Be'er Ya'akov (A.B.-C.) - all in Israel; St. George's School of Medicine of London and Faculty of Medicine, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus (M.B.); and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston (M.L.).

Yaniv Lustig (Y)

From the Infection Prevention and Control Unit (M.B., T.G., C.C., E.G.L., C.R., I.T., M.Z., G.R.-Y.), the Department of Clinical Microbiology (S.A.), General Management (Y.K.), and the Central Virology Laboratory, Public Health Authority, Ministry of Health (Y.L., M.M., V.I., N.Z.), Sheba Medical Center Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv (T.G., Y.L., M.M., E.G.L., Y.K., G.R.-Y.), and the Laboratory Wing, Asaf Harofe Medical Center, Be'er Ya'akov (A.B.-C.) - all in Israel; St. George's School of Medicine of London and Faculty of Medicine, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus (M.B.); and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston (M.L.).

Sharon Amit (S)

From the Infection Prevention and Control Unit (M.B., T.G., C.C., E.G.L., C.R., I.T., M.Z., G.R.-Y.), the Department of Clinical Microbiology (S.A.), General Management (Y.K.), and the Central Virology Laboratory, Public Health Authority, Ministry of Health (Y.L., M.M., V.I., N.Z.), Sheba Medical Center Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv (T.G., Y.L., M.M., E.G.L., Y.K., G.R.-Y.), and the Laboratory Wing, Asaf Harofe Medical Center, Be'er Ya'akov (A.B.-C.) - all in Israel; St. George's School of Medicine of London and Faculty of Medicine, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus (M.B.); and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston (M.L.).

Marc Lipsitch (M)

From the Infection Prevention and Control Unit (M.B., T.G., C.C., E.G.L., C.R., I.T., M.Z., G.R.-Y.), the Department of Clinical Microbiology (S.A.), General Management (Y.K.), and the Central Virology Laboratory, Public Health Authority, Ministry of Health (Y.L., M.M., V.I., N.Z.), Sheba Medical Center Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv (T.G., Y.L., M.M., E.G.L., Y.K., G.R.-Y.), and the Laboratory Wing, Asaf Harofe Medical Center, Be'er Ya'akov (A.B.-C.) - all in Israel; St. George's School of Medicine of London and Faculty of Medicine, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus (M.B.); and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston (M.L.).

Carmit Cohen (C)

From the Infection Prevention and Control Unit (M.B., T.G., C.C., E.G.L., C.R., I.T., M.Z., G.R.-Y.), the Department of Clinical Microbiology (S.A.), General Management (Y.K.), and the Central Virology Laboratory, Public Health Authority, Ministry of Health (Y.L., M.M., V.I., N.Z.), Sheba Medical Center Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv (T.G., Y.L., M.M., E.G.L., Y.K., G.R.-Y.), and the Laboratory Wing, Asaf Harofe Medical Center, Be'er Ya'akov (A.B.-C.) - all in Israel; St. George's School of Medicine of London and Faculty of Medicine, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus (M.B.); and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston (M.L.).

Michal Mandelboim (M)

From the Infection Prevention and Control Unit (M.B., T.G., C.C., E.G.L., C.R., I.T., M.Z., G.R.-Y.), the Department of Clinical Microbiology (S.A.), General Management (Y.K.), and the Central Virology Laboratory, Public Health Authority, Ministry of Health (Y.L., M.M., V.I., N.Z.), Sheba Medical Center Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv (T.G., Y.L., M.M., E.G.L., Y.K., G.R.-Y.), and the Laboratory Wing, Asaf Harofe Medical Center, Be'er Ya'akov (A.B.-C.) - all in Israel; St. George's School of Medicine of London and Faculty of Medicine, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus (M.B.); and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston (M.L.).

Einav Gal Levin (EG)

From the Infection Prevention and Control Unit (M.B., T.G., C.C., E.G.L., C.R., I.T., M.Z., G.R.-Y.), the Department of Clinical Microbiology (S.A.), General Management (Y.K.), and the Central Virology Laboratory, Public Health Authority, Ministry of Health (Y.L., M.M., V.I., N.Z.), Sheba Medical Center Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv (T.G., Y.L., M.M., E.G.L., Y.K., G.R.-Y.), and the Laboratory Wing, Asaf Harofe Medical Center, Be'er Ya'akov (A.B.-C.) - all in Israel; St. George's School of Medicine of London and Faculty of Medicine, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus (M.B.); and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston (M.L.).

Carmit Rubin (C)

From the Infection Prevention and Control Unit (M.B., T.G., C.C., E.G.L., C.R., I.T., M.Z., G.R.-Y.), the Department of Clinical Microbiology (S.A.), General Management (Y.K.), and the Central Virology Laboratory, Public Health Authority, Ministry of Health (Y.L., M.M., V.I., N.Z.), Sheba Medical Center Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv (T.G., Y.L., M.M., E.G.L., Y.K., G.R.-Y.), and the Laboratory Wing, Asaf Harofe Medical Center, Be'er Ya'akov (A.B.-C.) - all in Israel; St. George's School of Medicine of London and Faculty of Medicine, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus (M.B.); and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston (M.L.).

Victoria Indenbaum (V)

From the Infection Prevention and Control Unit (M.B., T.G., C.C., E.G.L., C.R., I.T., M.Z., G.R.-Y.), the Department of Clinical Microbiology (S.A.), General Management (Y.K.), and the Central Virology Laboratory, Public Health Authority, Ministry of Health (Y.L., M.M., V.I., N.Z.), Sheba Medical Center Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv (T.G., Y.L., M.M., E.G.L., Y.K., G.R.-Y.), and the Laboratory Wing, Asaf Harofe Medical Center, Be'er Ya'akov (A.B.-C.) - all in Israel; St. George's School of Medicine of London and Faculty of Medicine, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus (M.B.); and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston (M.L.).

Ilana Tal (I)

From the Infection Prevention and Control Unit (M.B., T.G., C.C., E.G.L., C.R., I.T., M.Z., G.R.-Y.), the Department of Clinical Microbiology (S.A.), General Management (Y.K.), and the Central Virology Laboratory, Public Health Authority, Ministry of Health (Y.L., M.M., V.I., N.Z.), Sheba Medical Center Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv (T.G., Y.L., M.M., E.G.L., Y.K., G.R.-Y.), and the Laboratory Wing, Asaf Harofe Medical Center, Be'er Ya'akov (A.B.-C.) - all in Israel; St. George's School of Medicine of London and Faculty of Medicine, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus (M.B.); and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston (M.L.).

Malka Zavitan (M)

From the Infection Prevention and Control Unit (M.B., T.G., C.C., E.G.L., C.R., I.T., M.Z., G.R.-Y.), the Department of Clinical Microbiology (S.A.), General Management (Y.K.), and the Central Virology Laboratory, Public Health Authority, Ministry of Health (Y.L., M.M., V.I., N.Z.), Sheba Medical Center Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv (T.G., Y.L., M.M., E.G.L., Y.K., G.R.-Y.), and the Laboratory Wing, Asaf Harofe Medical Center, Be'er Ya'akov (A.B.-C.) - all in Israel; St. George's School of Medicine of London and Faculty of Medicine, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus (M.B.); and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston (M.L.).

Neta Zuckerman (N)

From the Infection Prevention and Control Unit (M.B., T.G., C.C., E.G.L., C.R., I.T., M.Z., G.R.-Y.), the Department of Clinical Microbiology (S.A.), General Management (Y.K.), and the Central Virology Laboratory, Public Health Authority, Ministry of Health (Y.L., M.M., V.I., N.Z.), Sheba Medical Center Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv (T.G., Y.L., M.M., E.G.L., Y.K., G.R.-Y.), and the Laboratory Wing, Asaf Harofe Medical Center, Be'er Ya'akov (A.B.-C.) - all in Israel; St. George's School of Medicine of London and Faculty of Medicine, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus (M.B.); and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston (M.L.).

Adina Bar-Chaim (A)

From the Infection Prevention and Control Unit (M.B., T.G., C.C., E.G.L., C.R., I.T., M.Z., G.R.-Y.), the Department of Clinical Microbiology (S.A.), General Management (Y.K.), and the Central Virology Laboratory, Public Health Authority, Ministry of Health (Y.L., M.M., V.I., N.Z.), Sheba Medical Center Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv (T.G., Y.L., M.M., E.G.L., Y.K., G.R.-Y.), and the Laboratory Wing, Asaf Harofe Medical Center, Be'er Ya'akov (A.B.-C.) - all in Israel; St. George's School of Medicine of London and Faculty of Medicine, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus (M.B.); and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston (M.L.).

Yitshak Kreiss (Y)

From the Infection Prevention and Control Unit (M.B., T.G., C.C., E.G.L., C.R., I.T., M.Z., G.R.-Y.), the Department of Clinical Microbiology (S.A.), General Management (Y.K.), and the Central Virology Laboratory, Public Health Authority, Ministry of Health (Y.L., M.M., V.I., N.Z.), Sheba Medical Center Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv (T.G., Y.L., M.M., E.G.L., Y.K., G.R.-Y.), and the Laboratory Wing, Asaf Harofe Medical Center, Be'er Ya'akov (A.B.-C.) - all in Israel; St. George's School of Medicine of London and Faculty of Medicine, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus (M.B.); and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston (M.L.).

Gili Regev-Yochay (G)

From the Infection Prevention and Control Unit (M.B., T.G., C.C., E.G.L., C.R., I.T., M.Z., G.R.-Y.), the Department of Clinical Microbiology (S.A.), General Management (Y.K.), and the Central Virology Laboratory, Public Health Authority, Ministry of Health (Y.L., M.M., V.I., N.Z.), Sheba Medical Center Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv (T.G., Y.L., M.M., E.G.L., Y.K., G.R.-Y.), and the Laboratory Wing, Asaf Harofe Medical Center, Be'er Ya'akov (A.B.-C.) - all in Israel; St. George's School of Medicine of London and Faculty of Medicine, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus (M.B.); and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston (M.L.).

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