Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody and T cell responses over time after infection: predicting the future by understanding correlates to protection (Vad definierar en genomgången SARS-CoV-2 infektion och vad skyddar mot en ny?)

In order to dampen the spread of SARS-CoV-2, and the effects of COVID-19, it is important to effectively, rapidly and with high sensitivity and specificity, identify previously infected individuals. Equally important is to understand if these individuals are protected against subsequent infection and/or can transfer the virus to other individuals if they are re-infected.Without this knowledge it is not possible to perform high-quality screens for previous SARS-CoV-2 infection in the general population, and not understand the risk for spread of the virus in a population.In this project we aim to 1) Identify specific anti-SARS-CoV-2 immune responses that are stable over time in all infected individuals, including  asymptomatically infected and hospitalized severe cases. Further, by analysing for possible reinfection we aim to 2) Identify lack of specific immune responses associated with detection of viremia (= risk for viral spread to other individuals) during a second SARS-CoV-2 infection.Previously SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals (n=>250), will be sampled regularly over time. Saliva will be drawn every week for analyses of presence of virus. Blood will be sampled every 3rd month for serology assays, broadly analysing for viral-specific antibody responses including neutralizing capacity, immediate T cell responses by stimulating whole blood with a specific SARS-CoV-2 peptide pool, and detailed phneotypical and functional memory B and T cell analyses by flow cytometry. Medicinsk bioteknologi (inriktn. mot cellbiologi (inkl. stamcellsbiologi) molekylärbiologi, mikrobiologi, biokemi eller biofarmaci); Immunologi inom det medicinska området; Mikrobiologi inom det medicinska området