UArizona to study virus antibodies collected from essential workers

PHOENIX — The University of Arizona announced Wednesday it will study coronavirus antibodies found in essential workers over the course of the next year.

The $7.7 million year-long AZ HEROES study will be funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Jeff Burgess, associate dean for research and a professor at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, said during a press conference.

The goal is to identify patterns of COVID-19 immunity over time in individuals who have been infected with the virus.

Burgess will serve as principal investigator for the study.

The research team hopes 4,000 health care workers, first responders, and other essential workers will participate in the study. Half of those participants are expected to have had previous COVID-19 infections.

“The most important question that we need to answer is, how durable is that immune response to COVID-19?” Burgess said. “In other words, if you have it once how long will it be in months, or it could be years, until you’re susceptible to re-infection?

Researchers plan to answer that question through the antibody tests developed at UArizona Health Sciences. The testing lab uses two different viral proteins, both of which must return antibody signals for a sample to be called positive.

“Our antibody test is exceedingly accurate in determining who has developed an immune response against the COVID-19 virus,” said Deepta Bhattacharya, one of the developers of the antibody test and an associate professor in the UArizona College of Medicine.

“Combined with other tools such as diagnostic testing and contact tracing, it can help us better understand exposure, spread and levels of protection in our communities.”

Participants in the study who had previously tested positive for antibodies will be monitored weekly, regardless of whether or not they display symptoms. They will self-administer a nasal swabs before sending samples to a central location that’s been established by the CDC.

“The research questions we intend to answer will help us understand how long immunity to COVID-19 persists, and if secondary exposures to the virus are handled differently by the body than the initial exposure,” Burgess said.

In conjunction with the study, UArizona and the state of Arizona are expanding their free COVID-19 antibody testing program for new categories of essential workers considered at high risk for exposure.

Essential workers in the following fields — in addition to health care professionals and first responders — are now eligible for antibody testing under the program:

• Education
• Child care
• Agriculture, grocery and food service
• Hospitality
• Solid waste collection
• Transportation
• Arizona Army National Guard

The university estimates test results will be relayed to patients within 5-10 days.

Those interested in additional information about UArizona’s antibody testing can find more details online.

The AZ HEROES study team can also be reached by calling (520) 848-4026 or sending an email to AZHeroes@arizona.edu.

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