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E-mail the JCI Insight Go to * Top * Abstract * Supplemental material * Version history [adobe_pdf_] PDF Metrics * Article usage * Citations to this article Advertisement ResearchIn-Press PreviewCOVID-19Immunology Open Access | [open_acces] 10.1172/jci.insight.146316 A majority of uninfected adults show pre-existing antibody reactivity against SARS-CoV-2 Abdelilah Majdoubi,^1 Christina Michalski,^2 Sarah E. O'Connell,^3 Sarah Dada,^1 Sandeep R. Narpala,^3 Jean P. Gelinas,^4 Disha Mehta,^4 Claire Cheung,^1 Dirk F.H. Winkler,^5 Manjula Basappa,^3 Aaron C. Liu,^1 Matthias Gorges,^6 Vilte E. Barakauskas,^7 Michael A. Irvine,^ 8 Jennifer Mehalko,^9 Dominic Esposito,^9 Inna Sekirov,^10 Agatha N. Jassem,^10 David M. Goldfarb,^1 Steven Pelech,^5 Daniel C. Douek,^3 Adrian B. McDermott,^3 and Pascal M Lavoie^2 ^1Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^2Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^3Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disea, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States of America ^4Department of Anesthesiology, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, Canada ^5Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, Vancouver, Canada ^6Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^7Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^8Data and Analytic Services, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^9National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative, Cancer Research Technology Progra, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, United States of America ^10British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada Find articles by Majdoubi, A. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar ^1Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^2Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^3Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disea, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States of America ^4Department of Anesthesiology, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, Canada ^5Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, Vancouver, Canada ^6Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^7Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^8Data and Analytic Services, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^9National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative, Cancer Research Technology Progra, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, United States of America ^10British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada Find articles by Michalski, C. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar | [orcid_24x2] ^1Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^2Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^3Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disea, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States of America ^4Department of Anesthesiology, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, Canada ^5Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, Vancouver, Canada ^6Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^7Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^8Data and Analytic Services, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^9National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative, Cancer Research Technology Progra, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, United States of America ^10British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada Find articles by O'Connell, S. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar ^1Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^2Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^3Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disea, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States of America ^4Department of Anesthesiology, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, Canada ^5Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, Vancouver, Canada ^6Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^7Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^8Data and Analytic Services, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^9National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative, Cancer Research Technology Progra, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, United States of America ^10British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada Find articles by Dada, S. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar | [orcid_24x2] ^1Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^2Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^3Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disea, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States of America ^4Department of Anesthesiology, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, Canada ^5Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, Vancouver, Canada ^6Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^7Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^8Data and Analytic Services, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^9National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative, Cancer Research Technology Progra, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, United States of America ^10British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada Find articles by Narpala, S. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar ^1Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^2Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^3Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disea, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States of America ^4Department of Anesthesiology, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, Canada ^5Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, Vancouver, Canada ^6Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^7Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^8Data and Analytic Services, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^9National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative, Cancer Research Technology Progra, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, United States of America ^10British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada Find articles by Gelinas, J. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar ^1Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^2Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^3Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disea, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States of America ^4Department of Anesthesiology, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, Canada ^5Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, Vancouver, Canada ^6Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^7Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^8Data and Analytic Services, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^9National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative, Cancer Research Technology Progra, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, United States of America ^10British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada Find articles by Mehta, D. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar | [orcid_24x2] ^1Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^2Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^3Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disea, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States of America ^4Department of Anesthesiology, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, Canada ^5Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, Vancouver, Canada ^6Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^7Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^8Data and Analytic Services, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^9National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative, Cancer Research Technology Progra, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, United States of America ^10British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada Find articles by Cheung, C. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar ^1Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^2Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^3Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disea, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States of America ^4Department of Anesthesiology, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, Canada ^5Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, Vancouver, Canada ^6Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^7Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^8Data and Analytic Services, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^9National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative, Cancer Research Technology Progra, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, United States of America ^10British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada Find articles by Winkler, D. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar ^1Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^2Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^3Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disea, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States of America ^4Department of Anesthesiology, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, Canada ^5Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, Vancouver, Canada ^6Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^7Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^8Data and Analytic Services, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^9National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative, Cancer Research Technology Progra, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, United States of America ^10British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada Find articles by Basappa, M. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar ^1Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^2Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^3Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disea, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States of America ^4Department of Anesthesiology, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, Canada ^5Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, Vancouver, Canada ^6Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^7Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^8Data and Analytic Services, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^9National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative, Cancer Research Technology Progra, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, United States of America ^10British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada Find articles by Liu, A. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar | [orcid_24x2] ^1Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^2Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^3Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disea, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States of America ^4Department of Anesthesiology, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, Canada ^5Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, Vancouver, Canada ^6Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^7Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^8Data and Analytic Services, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^9National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative, Cancer Research Technology Progra, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, United States of America ^10British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada Find articles by Gorges, M. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar | [orcid_24x2] ^1Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^2Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^3Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disea, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States of America ^4Department of Anesthesiology, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, Canada ^5Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, Vancouver, Canada ^6Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^7Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^8Data and Analytic Services, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^9National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative, Cancer Research Technology Progra, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, United States of America ^10British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada Find articles by Barakauskas, V. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar ^1Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^2Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^3Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disea, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States of America ^4Department of Anesthesiology, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, Canada ^5Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, Vancouver, Canada ^6Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^7Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^8Data and Analytic Services, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^9National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative, Cancer Research Technology Progra, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, United States of America ^10British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada Find articles by Irvine, M. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar | [orcid_24x2] ^1Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^2Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^3Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disea, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States of America ^4Department of Anesthesiology, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, Canada ^5Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, Vancouver, Canada ^6Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^7Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^8Data and Analytic Services, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^9National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative, Cancer Research Technology Progra, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, United States of America ^10British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada Find articles by Mehalko, J. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar ^1Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^2Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^3Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disea, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States of America ^4Department of Anesthesiology, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, Canada ^5Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, Vancouver, Canada ^6Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^7Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^8Data and Analytic Services, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^9National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative, Cancer Research Technology Progra, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, United States of America ^10British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada Find articles by Esposito, D. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar ^1Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^2Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^3Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disea, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States of America ^4Department of Anesthesiology, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, Canada ^5Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, Vancouver, Canada ^6Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^7Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^8Data and Analytic Services, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^9National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative, Cancer Research Technology Progra, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, United States of America ^10British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada Find articles by Sekirov, I. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar ^1Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^2Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^3Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disea, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States of America ^4Department of Anesthesiology, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, Canada ^5Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, Vancouver, Canada ^6Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^7Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^8Data and Analytic Services, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^9National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative, Cancer Research Technology Progra, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, United States of America ^10British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada Find articles by Jassem, A. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar ^1Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^2Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^3Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disea, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States of America ^4Department of Anesthesiology, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, Canada ^5Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, Vancouver, Canada ^6Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^7Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^8Data and Analytic Services, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^9National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative, Cancer Research Technology Progra, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, United States of America ^10British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada Find articles by Goldfarb, D. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar | [orcid_24x2] ^1Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^2Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^3Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disea, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States of America ^4Department of Anesthesiology, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, Canada ^5Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, Vancouver, Canada ^6Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^7Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^8Data and Analytic Services, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^9National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative, Cancer Research Technology Progra, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, United States of America ^10British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada Find articles by Pelech, S. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar ^1Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^2Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^3Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disea, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States of America ^4Department of Anesthesiology, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, Canada ^5Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, Vancouver, Canada ^6Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^7Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^8Data and Analytic Services, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^9National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative, Cancer Research Technology Progra, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, United States of America ^10British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada Find articles by Douek, D. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar ^1Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^2Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^3Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disea, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States of America ^4Department of Anesthesiology, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, Canada ^5Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, Vancouver, Canada ^6Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^7Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^8Data and Analytic Services, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^9National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative, Cancer Research Technology Progra, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, United States of America ^10British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada Find articles by McDermott, A. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar | [orcid_24x2] ^1Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^2Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^3Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disea, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States of America ^4Department of Anesthesiology, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, Canada ^5Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, Vancouver, Canada ^6Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^7Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^8Data and Analytic Services, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada ^9National Cancer Institute RAS Initiative, Cancer Research Technology Progra, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, United States of America ^10British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada Find articles by Lavoie, P. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar Published March 15, 2021 - More info JCI Insight. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.146316. Copyright (c) 2021, Majdoubi et al. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/. Published March 15, 2021 - Version history View PDF [adobe_pdf_] Abstract Pre-existing cross-reactivity to SARS-CoV-2 may occur in absence of prior viral exposure. However, this has been difficult to quantify at the population level due to a lack of reliably defined seroreactivity thresholds. Using an orthogonal antibody testing approach, we estimated that ~0.6% of non-triaged adults from the greater Vancouver area, Canada between May 17th and June 19th 2020 showed clear evidence of a prior SARS-CoV-2 infection, after adjusting for false-positive and false-negative test results. Using a highly sensitive multiplex assay and positive/ negative thresholds established in infants in whom maternal antibodies have waned, we determine that more than 90% of uninfected adults showed antibody reactivity against the spike, receptor-binding domain (RBD), N-terminal domains (NTD) or the nucleocapsid (N) protein from SARS-CoV-2. This sero-reactivity was evenly distributed across age and sex, correlated with circulating coronaviruses reactivity, and was partially outcompeted by soluble circulating coronaviruses' spike. Using a custom SARS-CoV-2 peptide mapping array, we found that this antibody reactivity broadly mapped to spike, and to conserved non-structural viral proteins. We conclude that most adults display pre-existing antibody cross-reactivity against SARS-CoV-2, which further supports investigation of how this may impact the clinical severity of COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2 vaccine responses. 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