Publications by authors named "Ashley Sukhu"

Background: SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-LNP immunizations significantly reduce severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disease and have been widely administered throughout the world including those who are pregnant and postpartum. However, our understanding of the immune response within the context of pregnancy and breastfeeding, especially the antibody kinetics and function within the breast milk compartment, is limited. To address this gap, we studied longitudinal blood and breast milk samples from lactating women throughout the primary immunization schedule and for several months after.

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The effects of heterogeneous infection, vaccination and boosting histories prior to and during pregnancy have not been extensively studied and are likely important for protection of neonates. We measure levels of spike binding antibodies in 4600 patients and their neonates with different vaccination statuses, with and without history of SARS-CoV-2 infection. We investigate neutralizing antibody activity against different SARS-CoV-2 variant pseudotypes in a subset of 259 patients and determined correlation between IgG levels and variant neutralizing activity.

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Background: Most research on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection during pregnancy has been on acute infections with limited data on the effect of distant infection.

Aim: We examined placental pathology and neonatal outcomes in distant SARS-CoV-2 infection earlier in pregnancy compared to acute infections late in pregnancy/at birth and to non-SARS-CoV-2 infected patients with other placental pathologies/clinical presentations.

Methods: Placentas birthed to unvaccinated patients with SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing and serology testing results from time of delivery were included in this study.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Pregnant patients face higher risks of morbidity and mortality from SARS-CoV-2, and their exposure levels in NYC during the pandemic are not fully understood due to early testing limitations and asymptomatic cases.
  • - Before vaccines were available, pregnant patients were advised to take preventive measures like wearing masks and quarantining to minimize their risk of infection.
  • - A study of data from 2,196 pregnant patients showed that those who were already pregnant when the pandemic began had a 50% lower risk of exposure to the virus compared to those who became pregnant later and the general population.
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Background: For some vaccine-preventable diseases, the immunologic response to vaccination is altered by a pregnant state. The effect of pregnancy on SARS-CoV-2 vaccine response remains unclear.

Objective: We sought to characterize the peak and longitudinal anti-S immunoglobulin G, immunoglobulin M, and immunoglobulin A responses to messenger RNA-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in pregnant persons and compare them with those in nonpregnant, reproductive-aged persons.

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We evaluated the performance of SARS-CoV-2 TaqMan real-time reverse-transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) assays (ThermoFisher) for detecting 2 nonsynonymous spike protein mutations, E484K and N501Y. Assay accuracy was evaluated by whole genome sequencing (WGS). Residual nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 positive samples (N = 510) from a diverse patient population in New York City submitted for routine SARS-CoV-2 testing during January-April 2020 were used.

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Objective: To describe maternal and umbilical cord blood anti-spike immunoglobulin (Ig)G levels at delivery with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination before and during pregnancy and to assess the association of prior severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and a vaccine booster dose with anti-spike maternal and umbilical cord IgG levels.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of women with self-reported COVID-19 vaccination (Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson/Janssen), including a booster dose, during or before pregnancy, who delivered at 34 weeks of gestation or more. Maternal and umbilical cord blood samples at delivery were analyzed for semi-quantitative anti-spike IgG.

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Longitudinal studies are needed to evaluate the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine antibody response under real-world conditions. This longitudinal study investigated the quantity and quality of SARS-CoV-2 antibody response in 846 specimens from 350 patients, comparing BNT162b2-vaccinated individuals (19 previously diagnosed with COVID-19, termed RecoVax; and 49 never diagnosed, termed NaiveVax) with 122 hospitalized unvaccinated (HospNoVax) and 160 outpatient unvaccinated (OutPtNoVax) COVID-19 patients. NaiveVax experienced delay in generating SARS-CoV-2 total antibodies (TAb) and surrogate neutralizing antibodies (SNAb) after the first vaccine dose (D1) but rapid increase in antibody levels after the second dose (D2).

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Background: Low initial severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibody titers dropping to undetectable levels within months after infection have raised concerns about long-term immunity. Both the antibody levels and the avidity of the antibody-antigen interaction should be examined to understand the quality of the antibody response.

Methods: A testing-on-a-probe "plus" panel (TOP-Plus) was developed to include a newly developed avidity assay built into the previously described SARS-CoV-2 TOP assays that measured total antibody (TAb), surrogate neutralizing antibody (SNAb), IgM, and IgG on a versatile biosensor platform.

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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination in pregnancy induces a robust maternal immune response, with transplacental antibody transfer detectable in cord blood as early as 16 days after the first dose.

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Importance: Accumulating evidence suggests that children infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are more likely to manifest mild symptoms and are at a lower risk of developing severe respiratory disease compared with adults. It remains unknown how the immune response in children differs from that of adolescents and adults.

Objective: To investigate the association of age with the quantity and quality of SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates how pregnant women who test positive for COVID-19 develop antibodies and how this affects their newborns' immunity, highlighting the connection between maternal and neonatal immune responses.* -
  • Researchers reviewed cases from a New York City hospital between March and May 2020, assessing maternal symptoms and the timing of antibody levels in both mothers and their infants through serologic testing.* -
  • Results showed differences in antibody levels between babies born to mothers with positive serology and those without, indicating that maternal immunity may significantly influence neonatal immunity.*
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