Fig. 2: Convalescent individuals who experienced severe COVID-19 symptoms show a higher neutralizing antibody response and an accelerated recovery rate of lymphocytes compared with those who had non-severe symptoms.
a, Comparison of end-point titres of SARS-CoV-2 spike S1- and S2-specific IgG antibodies from COVID-19-convalescent individuals who had experienced severe (n = 17) and non-severe (n = 50) symptoms. b, Comparison of neutralization titres to SARS-CoV-2 pseudotyped virus for the sera from convalescent individuals who had severe (n = 17) and non-severe (n = 50) COVID-19. c, Comparison of avidity indexes of SARS-CoV-2 spike S1- and S2-specific IgG antibodies derived from convalescent individuals who had severe (n = 16) and non-severe (n = 48) COVID-19. d,e, The kinetics of lymphocyte counts (d) and the fold change in lymphocytes relative to admission for the time points as indicated (e) for the severe (red, circle) and non-severe (blue, square) groups of convalescent individuals, in which the number of patients included in the analysis was as follows (severe versus non-severe): on admission (n = 17 versus n = 50), mid-course of disease (n = 17 versus n = 41), discharge (n = 16 versus n = 30), 14 d after discharge (n = 13 versus n = 40) and 28 d after discharge (n = 13 versus n = 40). For a and b, end-point titres and neutralization titres were logarithmically transformed. In d and e, the dotted lines indicate the bottom line of the normal range of lymphocyte count and the baseline of the fold change in lymphocytes related to admission, respectively. For a–e, data are median ± IQR (25–75%). Mann–Whitney U-tests were used to analyse the difference between two groups; P < 0.05 was considered to be a two-tailed significant difference.
