Dataset Information

Symptoms, SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies, and Neutralization Capacity in a Cross Sectional-Population of German Children.

ABSTRACT: Background: Children and youth are affected rather mildly in the acute phase of COVID-19 and thus, SARS-CoV-2 infection infection may easily be overlooked. In the light of current discussions on the vaccinations of children it seems necessary to better identify children who are immune against SARS-CoV-2 due to a previous infection and to better understand COVID-19 related immune reactions in children. Methods: In a cross-sectional design, children aged 1-17 were recruited through primary care pediatricians for the study (a) randomly, if they had an appointment for a regular health check-up or (b) if parents and children volunteered and actively wanted to participate in the study. Symptoms were recorded and two antibody tests were performed in parallel directed against S (in house test) and N (Roche Elecsys) viral proteins. In children with antibody response in either test, neutralization activity was determined. Results: We identified antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in 162 of 2,832 eligible children (5.7%) between end of May and end of July 2020 in three, in part strongly affected regions of Bavaria in the first wave of the pandemic. Approximately 60% of antibody positive children (n = 97) showed high levels (>97th percentile) of antibodies against N-protein, and for the S-protein, similar results were found. Sufficient neutralizing activity was detected for only 135 antibody positive children (86%), irrespective of age and sex. Initial COVID-19 symptoms were unspecific in children except for the loss of smell and taste and unrelated to antibody responses or neutralization capacity. Approximately 30% of PCR positive children did not show seroconversion in our small subsample in which PCR tests were performed. Conclusions: Symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infections are unspecific in children and antibody responses show a dichotomous structure with strong responses in many and no detectable antibodies in PCR positive children and missing neutralization activity in a relevant proportion of the young population.

SUBMITTER: Laub O

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8522552 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Symptoms, SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies, and Neutralization Capacity in a Cross Sectional-Population of German Children.

Laub Otto O Leipold Georg G Toncheva Antoaneta A AA Peterhoff David D Einhauser Sebastian S Neckermann Patrick P Borchers Natascha N Santos-Valente Elisangela E Kheiroddin Parastoo P Buntrock-Döpke Heike H Laub Sarah S Schöberl Patricia P Schweiger-Kabesch Andrea A Ewald Dominik D Horn Michael M Niggel Jakob J Ambrosch Andreas A Überla Klaus K Gerling Stephan S Brandstetter Susanne S Wagner Ralf R Kabesch Michael M

Frontiers in pediatrics 20211004

<b>Background:</b> Children and youth are affected rather mildly in the acute phase of COVID-19 and thus, SARS-CoV-2 infection infection may easily be overlooked. In the light of current discussions on the vaccinations of children it seems necessary to better identify children who are immune against SARS-CoV-2 due to a previous infection and to better understand COVID-19 related immune reactions in children. <b>Methods:</b> In a cross-sectional design, children aged 1-17 were recruited through p ...[more]

PMID: 34671582

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Project description:BackgroundFollowing reduction of public health and social measures concurrent with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron emergence in late 2021 in Australia, COVID-19 case notification rates rose rapidly. As rates of direct viral testing and reporting dropped, true infection rates were most likely to be underestimated.ObjectiveTo better understand infection rates and immunity in this population, we aimed to estimate SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Australians aged 0-19 years.MethodsWe conducted a national cross sectional serosurvey from June 1, 2022, to August 31, 2022, in children aged 0-19 years undergoing an anesthetic procedure at eight tertiary pediatric hospitals. Participant questionnaires were administered, and blood samples tested using the Roche Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 total spike and nucleocapsid antibody assays. Spike and nucleocapsid seroprevalence adjusted for geographic and socioeconomic imbalances in the participant sample compared to the Australian population was estimated using multilevel regression and poststratification within a Bayesian framework.ResultsBlood was collected from 2,046 participants (median age: 6.6 years). The overall adjusted seroprevalence of spike-antibody was 92.1% (95% credible interval (CrI) 91.0-93.3%) and nucleocapsid-antibody was 67.0% (95% CrI 64.6-69.3). In unvaccinated children spike and nucleocapsid antibody seroprevalences were 84.2% (95% CrI 81.9-86.5) and 67.1% (95%CrI 64.0-69.8), respectively. Seroprevalence was similar across geographic remoteness index and socioeconomic quintiles. Nucleocapsid antibody seroprevalence increased with age while the point seroprevalence of the spike antibody seroprevalence decreased in the first year of life and then increased to 97.8 (95% Crl 96.1-99.2) by 12-15 years of age.ConclusionMost Australian children and adolescents aged 0-19 years, across all jurisdictions were infected with SARS-CoV-2 by August 2022, suggesting rapid and uniform spread across the population in a very short time period. High seropositivity in unvaccinated children informed COVID-19 vaccine recommendations in Australia.

Dataset Information

Symptoms, SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies, and Neutralization Capacity in a Cross Sectional-Population of German Children.

Publications

Symptoms, SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies, and Neutralization Capacity in a Cross Sectional-Population of German Children.

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