INTRODUCTION
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the popularity of serological testing has increased significantly due to the wide range of possible applications and the high speed of analysis. The use of serological diagnostic methods makes it possible to assess the humoral activity of the immune system of a macroorganism in response to infection or vaccination. Currently, the response of the immune system to the introduction of the vaccine is subject to wide variations in people of different age, gender, medical and social groups, which requires an additional comprehensive approach to the study of these features.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the gender and age characteristics of the immune response during vaccination and revaccination against a new coronavirus infection in patients of long-term care social institutions.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
The surveyed group of 8208 people were patients over the age of 18, partially or completely lost the ability to self-service and in need of constant outside care. Serological examination of the blood serum of patients to quantify the level of IgG antibodies in Binding Antibody Units (BAU/ml) was performed using the VITROS Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG Quantitative test in VITROS immunodiagnostic systems.
RESULTS
After the revaccination, the increase in the average level of IgG antibody titers (AL AT) in male patients with and without COVID-19 was 169.4 BAU/ml (15.4%) and 103.0 BAU/ml (14.8%), respectively (p<0.05). In women, a similar increase was 212.2 BAU/ml (17.2%) in the sick group, and 158.8 BAU/ml (18.5%) in the non-ill women (p<0.05). The analysis of age-related features of changes in AL AT showed the most pronounced increase in patients of the age cohort of 18-25 years. After the revaccination, it was found that the increase in AL AT was preserved with increasing age, with a characteristic tendency towards equalization of AL AT in different age cohorts relative to the period before revaccination in all the studied groups, regardless of gender and previous disease.
CONCLUSION
Regardless of previous COVID-19 exposure, women have a more pronounced immune response to the two-stage vaccination. At the same time, patients aged 18 to 25 years) have the most pronounced humoral response at all stages of vaccination.
