Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42797871›Full record

ArticleViruses2026

Long-Term Humoral Immune Dynamics in Healthcare Workers with Hybrid and Vaccine-Induced Immunity: The VaCoMRI Study.

Mehmet Tekinsoy, Osman Merdan, Rabia Rusen, Catharina Christa, Katharina Müller, Alina Priller, Hrvoje Mijocevic, Hedwig Roggendorf, Otto Zelger, Kathrin Tinnefeld and 7 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Viruses, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

17 authors.

Mehmet TekinsoyInstitute of Virology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-8482-8865
Osman MerdanInstitute of Virology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-9824-6073
Rabia RusenInstitute of Virology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-1928-8561
Catharina ChristaInstitute of Virology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany.
Katharina MüllerInstitute of Virology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany.
Alina PrillerInstitute of Virology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-4982-0347
Hrvoje MijocevicInstitute of Virology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany.
Hedwig RoggendorfInstitute of Molecular Immunology, University Hospital Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany.
Otto ZelgerOccupational Medicine, University Hospital Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany.
Kathrin TinnefeldInstitute of Virology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany.
Samuel D JeskeInstitute of Virology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-1948-2057
Duluur VasilevInstitute of Virology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany.
Sarah YaziciInstitute of Molecular Immunology, University Hospital Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany.
Johanna ErberDepartment for Internal Medicine II, University Hospital Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany.
Dieter HoffmannInstitute of Virology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-3566-3341
Percy A KnolleInstitute of Molecular Immunology, University Hospital Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-2983-0414
Ulrike ProtzerInstitute of Virology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-9421-1911

Funding

German Center for Infection Research, Munich FOR-COVID
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesThe VaCoMRI study tracked a cohort of healthcare workers from 2020 through June 2024 to characterize the long-term sustainability of hybrid and vaccine-induced SARS-CoV-2 immunity.

methodsAn initial anti-nucleocapsid (N) IgG screening of 4554 health-care workers in early 2020 identified participants who had been infected during the first wave. Anti-N-positive and anti-N-negative individuals then received BNT162b2 through the institutional vaccination program, yielding groups with hybrid and vaccine-induced immunity. Both groups were monitored regularly for nearly four years for breakthrough infections (BTI). Serum collected regularly after vaccination and after BTI was analyzed for anti-N, quantitative anti-spike (anti-S) IgG, and surrogate viral neutralizing antibody (sVNT) titers.

resultsOver a median follow-up of 1180 days, 142 healthcare workers contributed longitudinal samples; 66.2% experienced one BTI and 14.1% a second. In initially seronegative individuals, anti-N titers decreased 2.3-fold between 3 and 6 months after the first BTI, with seropositivity dropping from 82% to 40.4% (median time to seronegativity: 179 days). Prior anti-N seropositivity was associated with 4.5-fold higher anti-N IgG levels after BTI, with elevated levels persisting through 9 months. In both groups, the third vaccine dose significantly enhanced anti-S antibody persistence after 9 months compared to the second dose. In infection-naïve individuals, anti-S IgG titers remained 4.2-fold and sVNT titers 7.2-fold higher. Hybrid immunity was similarly durable: two vaccine doses after prior anti-N seropositivity yielded anti-S IgG and sVNT levels comparable to three-dose vaccination.

conclusionsThis study demonstrates a rapid waning of anti-N IgG that severely limits its reliability for retrospective serosurveillance of SARS-CoV-2 exposure in occupational settings. The combination of vaccination and infection induced robust and durable spike-directed antibody responses. However, these were determined using assays based on the ancestral spike protein. This may limit the prediction of protection from SARS-CoV-2 variants, which usually cause BTIs.

Indexed as

Antibodies, ViralCOVID-19Health PersonnelImmunity, HumoralSARS-CoV-2AdultAntibodies, NeutralizingBNT162 VaccineBreakthrough InfectionsFemaleHumansImmunoglobulin GMaleMiddle AgedSpike Glycoprotein, CoronavirusVaccinationAntibodies, NeutralizingAntibodies, ViralBNT162 VaccineImmunoglobulin GSpike Glycoprotein, Coronavirusantibody kineticsanti-nucleocapsid IgGanti-spike IgGBNT162b2breakthrough infectionhealthcare workersSARS-CoV-2surrogate virus neutralization

Identifiers

PMID42797871
PMCPMC13611903

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.