At the end of 2019 a newly emerged betacoronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was identified as the cause of an outbreak of severe pneumonia, subsequently termed COVID-19, in a number of patients in Wuhan, China. Subsequently, SARS-CoV-2 rapidly spread globally, resulting in a pandemic that has to date infected over 200 million individuals and resulted in more than 4.3 million deaths. While SARS-CoV-2 results in severe disease in 13.8%, with increasing frequency of severe disease with age, over 80% of infections are asymptomatic or mild. The immune response is an important determinant of outcome following SARS-CoV-2 infection. While B cell and T cell responses are associated with control of infection and protection against subsequent challenge with SARS-CoV-2, failure to control viral replication and the resulting hyperinflammation are associated with severe COVID-19. Towards the end of 2020, several variants of concern emerged that demonstrate increased transmissibility and/or evasion of immune responses from prior SARS-CoV-2 infection. This article reviews what is known about the humoral and cellular immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 and how mutation and structural/functional changes in the emerging variants of concern impact upon the immune protection from prior infection or vaccination.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Vaccine, immune response, pandemic, variants of concern, 【초록키워드】 coronavirus, immune response, vaccination, Mutation, severe COVID-19, Cellular immune response, SARS-COV-2 infection, Infection, outcome, severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus, Betacoronavirus, B cell, Spread, T cell, Viral, Transmissibility, Asymptomatic, outbreak, viral replication, immune responses, hyperinflammation, Wuhan, Patient, Mild, age, severe pneumonia, respiratory, T cell response, Humoral and cellular immune responses, immune protection, Frequency, severe disease, deaths, humoral, acute respiratory syndrome, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, individual, several variants, while, Wuhan, China, resulting, subsequent, changes in, several variant, 【제목키워드】 response, concern,