Ebola Virus Disease Survivors Show More Efficient Antibody Immunity than Vaccinees Despite Similar Levels of Circulating Immunoglobulins

Abstract

The last seven years have seen the greatest surge of Ebola virus disease (EVD) cases in equatorial Africa, including the 2013–2016 epidemic in West Africa and the recent epidemics in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The vaccine clinical trials that took place in West Africa and the DRC, as well as follow-up studies in collaboration with EVD survivor communities, have for the first time allowed researchers to compare immune memory induced by natural infection and vaccination. These comparisons may be relevant to evaluate the putative effectiveness of vaccines and candidate medical countermeasures such as convalescent plasma transfer. In this study, we compared the long-term functionality of anti-EBOV glycoprotein (GP) antibodies from EVD survivors with that from volunteers who received the recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus vectored vaccine (rVSV-ZEBOV) during the Phase I clinical trial in Hamburg. Our study highlights important differences between EBOV vaccination and natural infection and provides a framework for comparison with other vaccine candidates.

Distinct transcriptional responses to fatal Ebola virus infection in cynomolgus and rhesus macaques suggest species-specific immune responses

“…Both B cell-and T cell-mediated responses are believed to be correlates of protection against EBOV infection, as indicated by high levels of neutralizing antibodies and antiviral T cells in human EVD survivors [2,14,15,46,47]. On the other hand, lymphopenia is a characteristic of EVD [16,[19][20][21].…”

Temporal evolution of the humoral antibody response after Ebola virus disease in Guinea: a 60-month observational prospective cohort study

“…Genetic factors, viral inoculum at infection, or regulatory differences might be the basis for retaining antibodies at a high concentration after viral clearance from the blood in most patients, whereas antibody concentrations of other survivors underwent a rapid and continuous decline. 20,28 For patients with an immunological response characterised by high, consistent, and durable antibody concentrations over time and who cross-reacted with multiple strains of Ebolavirus, the ability of these antibodies to be protective against a new infection with the same or a different Ebolavirus spp is still not precisely known, but might be determinant in the search for a pan-Ebola treatment or vaccine.…”

RNA Viruses, Pregnancy and Vaccination: Emerging Lessons from COVID-19 and Ebola Virus Disease

“…In the case of EVD, a cohort study evaluating vaccination and EBOV infection has observed more efficient immunity in survivors than vaccinated volunteers. Higher neutralizing capacity, larger pool of neutralizing antibodies and elevated NK cell activation were observed in the survivors [ 276 ].…”