Collection of SARS CoV-2 (COVID-19) Virus Secretions and Serum for Countermeasure Development

Collection of SARS-COV-2 Secretions and Serum for Countermeasure Development (aka ClinSeqSer) is an observational study to understand natural history of SARS-COV-2 infections among special populations and characterise post-covid morbidity through immune response, virus genome sequencing, cytokine response, and virus shedding. Given the descriptions of infection course of patients over the outbreak of 2003 (SARS-Cov01) and since January 2019 in China and Europe, and now worldwide:

1. Acutely infected patients shed virus that could be of major interest to characterize (viral quantification, characterization of virus shedding -of infective and of non-infective virus) the former reflecting/predictive of severity of disease and the latter reflecting extent/source of contagiosity. 2. Convalescent infected patients develop a specific anti-virus antibody response that is (likely) protective and therefore suits the preliminary requirement for the potential benefits of the convalescent patient plasma therapeutic infusion approach. In addition, long term effects of COVID-19 commonly known as long-haulers remains clinically unclear.

Thousands of patients have now been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Louisiana (444,000 cases, 10,122 deaths, 2.2% mortality in Louisiana (LA), as of March 2021), and numerous patients are now also complaining of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC). The investigators want to further clarify questions surrounding rational confinement duration and therapeutic approach by collecting plasma of convalescent patients to identify optimal antibody titer by ELISA, specificity of naturally occurring inflammatory (protein/antibody and RNA) response, and possibly test in vitro antibody neutralization activity.