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ABSTRACT: Background
Detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antigens in blood has high sensitivity in adults with acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but sensitivity in pediatric patients is unclear. Recent data suggest that persistent SARS-CoV-2 spike antigenemia may contribute to multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). We quantified SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) and spike (S) antigens in blood of pediatric patients with either acute COVID-19 or MIS-C using ultrasensitive immunoassays (Meso Scale Discovery).Methods
Plasma was collected from inpatients (<21 years) enrolled across 15 hospitals in 15 US states. Acute COVID-19 patients (n = 36) had a range of disease severity and positive nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR within 24 hours of blood collection. Patients with MIS-C (n = 53) met CDC criteria and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (RT-PCR or serology). Controls were patients pre-COVID-19 (n = 67) or within 24 hours of negative RT-PCR (n = 43).Results
Specificities of N and S assays were 95-97% and 100%, respectively. In acute COVID-19 patients, N/S plasma assays had 89%/64% sensitivity; sensitivities in patients with concurrent nasopharyngeal swab cycle threshold (Ct) ≤35 were 93%/63%. Antigen concentrations ranged from 1.28-3844 pg/mL (N) and 1.65-1071 pg/mL (S) and correlated with disease severity. In MIS-C, antigens were detected in 3/53 (5.7%) samples (3 N-positive: 1.7, 1.9, 121.1 pg/mL; 1 S-positive: 2.3 pg/mL); the patient with highest N had positive nasopharyngeal RT-PCR (Ct 22.3) concurrent with blood draw.Conclusions
Ultrasensitive blood SARS-CoV-2 antigen measurement has high diagnostic yield in children with acute COVID-19. Antigens were undetectable in most MIS-C patients, suggesting that persistent antigenemia is not a common contributor to MIS-C pathogenesis.
SUBMITTER: Sigal GB
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8903440 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Sigal George B GB Novak Tanya T Mathew Anu A Chou Janet J Zhang Yubo Y Manjula Navaratnam N Bathala Pradeepthi P Joe Jessica J Padmanabhan Nikhil N Romero Daniel D Allegri-Machado Gabriella G Joerger Jill J Loftis Laura L LL Schwartz Stephanie P SP Walker Tracie C TC Fitzgerald Julie C JC Tarquinio Keiko M KM Zinter Matt S MS Schuster Jennifer E JE Halasa Natasha B NB Cullimore Melissa L ML Maddux Aline B AB Staat Mary A MA Irby Katherine K Flori Heidi R HR Coates Bria M BM Crandall Hillary H Gertz Shira J SJ Randolph Adrienne G AG Pollock Nira R NR
Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 20221001 8
<h4>Background</h4>Detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antigens in blood has high sensitivity in adults with acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but sensitivity in pediatric patients is unclear. Recent data suggest that persistent SARS-CoV-2 spike antigenemia may contribute to multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). We quantified SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) and spike (S) antigens in blood of pediatric patients with either acute COVID-19 ...[more]