The team of professionals from the Occupational Risk Prevention Unit of the Doctor José Molina Orosa University Hospital, attached to the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands, has concluded a study on the evolution of antibodies among workers in the Lanzarote Health Area after receiving doses of the vaccine against covid-19.
The observational work entitled SARS-COV2 post-vaccination antibody study has been led by Eduardo Lara together with the health team of the Occupational Risk Prevention Unit with the main objective of estimating the evolution of antibody levels among the participants during the follow-up period.
This study, which began during one of the acute phases of the pandemic, just when the first doses were beginning to be administered to healthcare personnel, was carried out on a representative sample of 300 workers from the Lanzarote Health Area, of which 273 were finally included. All these people were vaccinated with three doses of the vaccine against covid-19.
For the development of the same, several blood samples were studied from the participating people after receiving the vaccine, in order to observe the numerical evolution of the antibodies. The final follow-up time concluded in May 2022 and between the third and fourth samples the third dose of the vaccine was administered.
Evolution of antibodies
In the different phases of the study, the descending evolution of the antibody level is observed after the first doses of the vaccine, a trend that, however, is reversed after receiving the third dose, which produces a notable growth of antibodies, exceeding the levels obtained with the first two doses.
In addition, the results show significant differences between antibody levels for personnel who have had the disease with just over 39,000 antibody units compared to those who had not been infected and who, therefore, only have the antibodies provided by the vaccine, around 10,400.
On the contrary, no disparity of results is evident from a statistical point of view between men and women: the former with 12,096 units and women with just over 12,300. Nor is a correlation observed at the end of the study between the age of the patients and the antibody levels, nor with respect to the other variables that were included in the study.
In addition to the levels of antibodies present in the blood, the study contemplated other variables such as the time elapsed between the doses and the samples taken, the manifestation of covid during the study time, the age and sex of the participating people, as well as the professional category, the use of toxic substances during their work activity and shift work.
To carry out the study, we had the collaboration of the pharmacist of the hospital center Alejandro Ferrer, in charge of developing the statistical formulation of the data collected and the collaboration of the Microbiology and Internal Medicine services.
Profile of the participants
Regarding the profile of the participants, most of them, 78%, were women, and the average age was between 36 and 54 years. With respect to the professional category, 32% were Nursing staff, 24%, 19% specialist area physicians, the orderlies accounted for 8% of the volunteers and the rest belonged to other professional groups.
99% of the participating staff were vaccinated with Pfizer and one percent with Moderna. On the other hand, it is noted that four percent of the volunteers presented pathologies that cause immunosuppression.
The total study time was fourteen months, during which four samples were taken, the last of which was after inoculation with the third dose. Antibody levels in that time evolved from 2,164 units after the first dose to more than 12,300 observed after the last dose received.
