← Return to Transplant: No or Few Antibodies after COVID Vaccination
DiscussionTransplant: No or Few Antibodies after COVID Vaccination
Transplants | Last Active: Mar 7, 2022 | Replies (193)Comment receiving replies
Replies to "@athenalee, Thank you for the article about 4th dose for immunocompromised patients. Yes, it is disappointing..."
To put it in context, the first part of this study notes that of the transplant recipients receiving two vaccine (Pfizer) doses, 40% developed antibodies (seropositive), thus 60% were seronegative. Participants in the study were given a third shot. One month after the transplant recipients were given the third dose of mRNA-based vaccine, 67 were documented as being Anti-SARS-CoV2 positive patients (seropositive) and 32 Anti-SARS-CoV2 negative patients (seronegative).
Among the 59 patients who had been seronegative before the third dose, 26 (44%) were seropositive at 4 weeks after the third dose.
Transplant recipients who had a low or no antibody development after the third dose were given a fourth dose in this study. Results indicated that 4 weeks after dose 4, just over 40% of those given a forth dose became seropositive, at a median antibody concentration, 19.4% had antibody concentrations greater than 14 BAU/mL, and 6.5% had antibody concentrations greater than 140 BAU/mL.
The factors limiting antibody development after both the third and fourth dose correlate to older age, Immunosuppressive level, time between transplant and vaccines, having a lower total lymphocyte count, a lower CD4-positive T- cell count, a lower CD19-positive count, and a lower estimated glomerular filtration rate before vaccination compared to responders.
So, after studying both some more, I’ve come up with the same conclusions…doom and gloom for some of us. And, rays of sunshiny protection for others. But, even with the charts and data, it’s still confusing as to which camp one is in.
The charts in the PDFs attached have the breakdown, p. 5 for the 3rd dose and p. 2 for the 4th. They don’t break down the variables for the medications, however, like the John Hopkins study.
3rd Dose_NEJMc2108861_appendix (3rd-Dose_NEJMc2108861_appendix.pdf)
4th dose_kamar_2021_ld_210260_1637099513 (4th-dose_kamar_2021_ld_210260_1637099513.32395.pdf)
I'm 2.5 year out from a liver and kidney transplant. I'm on 4mg of tac a day. I'm also on Insulin and BP meds, as well as Gabapentin for neuropathy. I had zero antibodies after 2 FULL Moderna shots, however after 4 Full shots I requested a titer test and I now do have a high level of antibodies. I'm 70 years old. I hope this information helps others. BTW I also had Carotid artery surgery and a double bypass after my transplant and I feel great.