Translational Research in Immunology and Ageing (TRIA)

Older adults have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Among them, residents from long-term care facilities (LTCF), who live in a congregate setting (with increased risk of transmission and infection) showed higher mortality rates than the general population of the same age. Therefore, vaccination of residents from LTCF against SARS-CoV-2 has been a priority in most countries. Ageing is associated with an immunosenescent phenotype characterized by a progressive increase of a proinflammatory state and, a diminished immune response to pathogens and vaccines. Therefore, there is an urgent need to determine the quality and the duration of immune responses of the elderly population, which could be very useful for designing specific SARS-CoV-2 vaccination calendars adapted to their immune needs. The aim of the study is to evaluate the quality and the duration of immune response generated by SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine in institutionalized elders living on LTCF, comparing individuals recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection with elders who never got infected by SARS-CoV-2 living in the same senior facilities. In addition, we will compare the immune responses generated by elders with a younger population.

Pooling testing combes the same type of specimen from several people and conducting one NAAT laboratory test on the combined pool of specimens to detect SARS-CoV-2. Pooled tests that return positive results will require each specimen in the pool to be retested individually to determine which individual(s) are positive. The advantages of pooling include preserving testing reagents and resources, reducing the amount of time required to test large numbers of specimens (increasing throughput), and lowering the overall cost of testing. The aim of the study is to determine if pool testing is an efficient technique that could be used to identify SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals rapidly and at lower cost. Disse

The KING cohort extension aims to be a prospective comparative observational cohort of infected SARS-CoV-2 individuals to have a unique clinical platform og biological specimens to study the virology and immunopathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2, during acute infection and after recovery of COVID-19. An uninfected group of individuals and a vaccinated group will be included. Patients suffering from Post-COVID-19 condition are also included in this cohort.

cases with suspected or possible reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 have been reported worldwide since September 2020. It remains unknown the durability of immune responses to this virus, and it is a current public health problem. Whereas infections by the closely related betacoronaviruses SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV elicit long-lasting protective immunity, immune responses to common-cold coronaviruses are short-lived. Reinfections may occur after a few months from first episode, but usually with mild symptoms. The possibility of reinfection implies that individuals that have been infected once cannot be definitively considered to be immune. Although so far confirmed reinfections appear to rare events, more evidence and longer follow-up time is required to better understand duration of immunity (natural or after vaccination), transmissibility and the likelihood and implications of reinfection. Identification of predictor clinical risk factors for reinfection would be useful for implementing interventions focusing on the reduction of disease burden in populations at risk, including special vaccination efforts. The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with SARS-CoV-2 reinfection.