would children already have effective antibodies?

Since the onset of the coronavirus epidemic, the plight of children has been questioned. They would contaminate each other relatively little, would have asymptomatic forms of the disease more often and would seem less prone to severe forms of coronavirus. An explanation was put forward by British researchers: some children have already developed antibodies by taking other coronavirusesand would be effective against Covid-19.

The study was published on Friday, November 6 in the journal Science. He says many children and some adults had antibodies before the pandemic which would allow, at least in the laboratory, to prevent Covid-19 from entering human cells. All thanks to a common “base” between the various coronaviruses.

Children would develop more of these antibodies because they more often contract seasonal coronaviruses, which most often cause simple colds.

Normally, when the body confronts a virus, it gradually loses its antibodies, but it retains “memory cells”, which can quickly produce an immune response if it encounters it again. According to Dr. Stephen J. Elledge, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School interviewed in New York Times, adults may have lost these antibodies and the memory cells that accompany them over time. He explains it in the American newspaper Covid-19 could also impact the activation of these memory cells.

For now, this research is still in its early stages. The researchers now intend to expand their study. Their findings could provide clues to the long-term efficacy of a Covid-19 vaccine.

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