One case in Australia of children producing COVID antibodies while being exposed to their parents were ill with the disease has shed light into the way children appear to remain largely unaffected by it.
The parents of three children fell ill after attending a wedding, developing COVID with all the normal symptoms. Fortunately, they did not require hospitalisation but the whole family was tested for COVID. To the amazement of clinicians, the test for all three children came back negative, as did a subsequent re-test. The two older children had mild symptoms of COVID.
“It was jaw-droppingly amazing because they’d spent a week and a half with us while we were COVID-positive,” said their mother, Leila Sawenko.
Intrigued, researchers asked the family to come back for a series of tests. While polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests failed to detect SARS-CoV-2, saliva samples showed SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. The children’s cytokine levels remained low, consistent with their lack of symptoms.
Researchers believe that, unlike their parents, the children’s immune system staged such an effective response that viral replication was severely restricted.
“The discordance between the virological PCR results and clinical serological testing, despite an evident immune response, highlights limitations to the sensitivity of nasopharyngeal PCR and current diagnostic serology in children,” wrote the researchers.
Source: Science Alert
