Oddly, children produce COVID-19 antibodies without testing positive for the disease

Until now, scientists have not yet been able to explain why babies look like less likely to contract the SARS-CoV-2 virus. However, a study by a team of researchers with an Australian family could shed more light on this mystery.

According to shared information, in this Australian family, parents contracted SARS-CoV-2 after attending a wedding and then showed symptoms of COVID-19. The whole family then carried out two tests to confirm the coronavirus infection.

Photo by Manuel Darío Fuentes Hernández. Credits Pixabay

Oddly, the tests were positive for the parents, but negative for two of the children, despite showing up mild symptoms of illness. Most surprisingly, the third, the youngest of them showed up no symptoms throughout the episode, although members of this family could not comply with the usual physical distance precautions during their quarantine.

This has led researchers to take an interest in their cases.

The details of this study that ultimately explains things

To perform the tests, the researchers took and analyzed samples of blood, saliva, stool and urine, as well as swabs from the subjects’ noses and throats twice in three days. Repeated polymerase chain reaction tests (PCR test) with SARS-CoV-2 they have always been negative.

However, specific antibodies against the virus were found in the saliva of all family members and during detailed serological tests. This means that once exposed to the virus, the immune systems of these children reacted by developing antibodies capable of fighting the infection without testing positive for the virus. The youngest who was asymptomatic looked elsewhere having developed the strongest immune response.

Additionally, the researchers found that plasma levels of cytokines, the molecular messengers responsible for the inflammatory response, remained weak. This explains the fact that these children had mild or no symptoms of the disease, according to the scientists.

Proof that children are resistant to SARS-CoV-2

According to this study, children who were infected with the virus have developed a very effective antiviral reaction capable of limiting virus replication and even reducing viral load to a level not detectable by PCR.

This means that at some level, children’s immune systems are able to respond and deal with the virus effectively, which prevents them from becoming seriously ill.

It also reveals the discrepancy observed between the virological results of the PCR and the clinical serological tests that there is a certain limit as to the sensitivity of nasopharyngeal PCR (the famous nasal swabs) and the diagnostic serology currently used, for children.

The results of this research were published in Nature Communications.