The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) mRNA Vaccine-Breakthrough Infection Phenotype Includes Significant Symptoms, Live Virus Shedding, and Viral Genetic Diversity

Simon D Pollett; Stephanie A Richard; Anthony C Fries; Mark P Simons; Katrin Mende; Tahaniyat Lalani; Tida Lee; Sharon Chi; Rupal Mody; Cristian Madar; Anuradha Ganesan; Derek T Larson; Christopher J Colombo; Rhonda Colombo; Emily C Samuels; Christopher C Broder; Eric D Laing; Darci R Smith; David Tribble; Brian K Agan; Timothy H Burgess

doi:10.1093/cid/ciab543

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) mRNA Vaccine-Breakthrough Infection Phenotype Includes Significant Symptoms, Live Virus Shedding, and Viral Genetic Diversity

Clin Infect Dis. 2022 Mar 9;74(5):897-900. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciab543.

Authors

Simon D Pollett^{1

2}, Stephanie A Richard^{1

2}, Anthony C Fries³, Mark P Simons¹, Katrin Mende^{1

2

4}, Tahaniyat Lalani^{1

5}, Tida Lee⁵, Sharon Chi^{1

6}, Rupal Mody⁷, Cristian Madar⁶, Anuradha Ganesan^{1

8}, Derek T Larson⁹, Christopher J Colombo¹⁰, Rhonda Colombo^{1

2

10}, Emily C Samuels^{2

11}, Christopher C Broder¹¹, Eric D Laing¹², Darci R Smith¹², David Tribble¹, Brian K Agan^{1

2}, Timothy H Burgess¹

Affiliations

¹ Infectious Disease Clinical Research Program, Department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
² Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
³ US Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, Dayton, Ohio, USA.
⁴ Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam, Houston, Texas, USA.
⁵ Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Virginia, USA.
⁶ Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
⁷ William Beaumont Army Medical Center, El Paso, Texas, USA.
⁸ Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
⁹ Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, USA.
¹⁰ Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, USA.
¹¹ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
¹² Biological Defense Research Directorate, Naval Medical Research Center, Frederick, Maryland, USA.

Abstract

Little is known about severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 "vaccine-breakthrough" infections (VBIs). Here we characterize 24 VBIs in predominantly young healthy persons. While none required hospitalization, a proportion endorsed severe symptoms and shed live virus as high as 4.13 × 103 plaque-forming units/mL. Infecting genotypes included both variant-of-concern (VOC) and non-VOC strains.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; live virus; patient-reported outcomes; symptoms; vaccine breakthrough.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

COVID-19 Vaccines
COVID-19* / prevention & control
Genetic Variation
Humans
Phenotype
RNA, Messenger
SARS-CoV-2* / genetics
Vaccines, Synthetic
Virus Shedding
mRNA Vaccines

Substances

COVID-19 Vaccines
RNA, Messenger
Vaccines, Synthetic
mRNA Vaccines