Impact of Prior Infection on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Transmission in Syrian Hamsters.

Cheng Zhang,Juxiang Liu,Huan Cui,Chunmao Zhang,Nan Li,Chengfeng Qin,Shanshan Zhang,Li Zhao,Zhendong Guo,Keyin Meng,Lina Liu,Yuwei Gao

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2021.722178

Abstract

Prior infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) provides protective immunity against reinfection. However, whether prior infection blocks SARS-CoV-2 transmission is not yet clear. Here, we evaluated the impact of prior infection on SARS-CoV-2 transmission in Syrian hamsters. Our results showed that prior infection significantly reduced SARS-CoV-2 replication in Syrian hamsters, but sterilizing immunity was not achieved. Prior infection blocked the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from previously infected Syrian hamsters to naïve Syrian hamsters and previously infected Syrian hamsters. Moreover, prior infection substantially reduced the efficiency of direct contact transmission between previously infected Syrian hamsters. However, prior infection had limited impact on SARS-CoV-2 transmission from previously infected Syrian hamsters to naïve Syrian hamsters via direct contact in the early course of infection. Human reinfection and SARS-CoV-2 transmission between a previously infected population and a healthy population would be likely, and a higher vaccination coverage rate was needed to reach herd immunity. Our work will aid the implementation of appropriate public health and social measures to control coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Highlights

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the agent of coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19), has severely disrupted healthcare system and economic activities in the world
Our results showed that prior infection substantially reduced SARS-CoV-2 transmission between previously infected Syrian hamsters, but direct contact transmission can still occur between previously infected hamsters and naïve Syrian hamsters
We evaluated SARS-CoV-2 replication in previously infected Syrian hamsters

Summary

Introduction

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the agent of coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19), has severely disrupted healthcare system and economic activities in the world. Previous studies have shown that prior infection or vaccination provides protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2 in different animal models (Bosco-Lauth et al, 2020; Chandrashekar et al, 2020; Corbett et al, 2020; Deng et al, 2020; Gao et al, 2020; Mercado et al, 2020; van Doremalen et al, 2020; Wang et al, 2020a; Yu et al, 2020), but previously infected or vaccinated animals still shed large quantities of the virus in. Data about SARS-CoV-2 transmission from recovered COVID-19 patients to a healthy person was lacking. The impact of prior infection on SARS-CoV-2 transmission in humans is not clear

Methods

Results

Conclusion