UK Biobank COVID-19 antibody study: final results
Published 3 February 2021
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
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Methodology
UK Biobank collected monthly blood samples and data on potential symptoms from over 20,000 UK Biobank participants, their adult children and grandchildren, to determine the extent of past infection with SARS-CoV-2 in different population subgroups across the United Kingdom.
Between 27 May and 4 December 2020, 18,893 individuals (93.5%) provided at least one sample that was successfully assayed at the Target Discovery Institute (University of Oxford).
Participants took a finger-prick blood sample using a kit sent to their home every month for 6 months. All study participants were also invited to complete a symptom survey at the time of blood collection.
Results
One of the most significant findings of the study is that 99% of participants who had tested positive for previous infection retained antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 for 3 months after being infected, and 88% did for the full 6 months of the study. This discovery provides an early indication that the antibodies produced following natural infection may protect most people against subsequent infection for at least 6 months.
The proportion of the population with antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 (‘seroprevalence’, which indicates past infection) rose from 6.6% at the start of the study (May/June 2020) to 8.8% by the end of it (November/December 2020).
Across the various population groups included in the study, it was found that:
- SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence was most common in London (12.4%) and least common in Scotland (5.5%)
- there was no difference in seroprevalence by gender, but the proportion of participants with detectable antibodies was higher in younger people (13.5% among those under 30) and lowest in the elderly (6.7% among those over 70)
- the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 was highest among participants of black ethnicity (16.3%) and lowest among those of white (8.5%) and Chinese ethnicities (7.5%)
The most common symptom associated with having antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 was a loss of sense of taste and smell, which was reported by 43% of sero-positive participants.
About one quarter (24%) of sero-positive participants were completely asymptomatic and 40% did not have one of the 3 ‘classic’ COVID-19 symptoms (fever, persistent dry cough or loss of sense of taste or smell).
Conclusion
The 6-month results demonstrate the persistence of antibody levels after infection, which may be indicative of long-term protection.