Children Producing Different Antibodies in Response to COVID-19

A new study by Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons researchers has found children and adults produce various types and amounts of antibodies in "response to infection with COVID-19," a new coronavirus also called SARS-CoV-2.

The differences in antibodies suggest the new findings indicate, the course of the contagion and immune response is different in children, and most children simply eliminate the virus from their bodies.

According to Donna Farber, Ph.D., their study provides a detailed investigation of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in children, exposing a stark disparity with adults.

Farber, also the George H. Humphreys II Professor of Surgical Sciences in the Department of Survey, led the research with Columbia's Department of Pediatrics associate professor of viral molecular pathogenesis Matteo Porotto, Ph.D.

Pathology and cell biology professor Stuart Weisberg, MD, Ph.D., and pediatrics assistant professor Thomas Connors, MD, the study's first authors, enrolled patients in their research and conducted the data analysis.

In kids, Porotto said, the infectious course is much shorter and is less likely to spread as in adults. He elaborated that children may "clear this virus more efficiently" compared to adults, not to mention, they may not need a "strong antibody immune response" to clear it out.

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Kids, Less Likely to Get Affected by COVID-19

One of the remarkable indicators of COVID-19 is that most of the children cope effectively well with the virus, while older people have difficulty coping.

Commenting on their findings, Farber said, "This is a new infection for everybody," although children are exceptionally adapted "to see pathogens for the first time." That, she added, is "what their immune system is designed to do."

As described in the study, children have a lot of "naïve T cells" that could recognize all types of new pathogens, while older individuals rely more on immunological memories.

Essentially, according to the new findings, children are making lesser SARS-CoV-1 neutralizing antibodies.

Specifically, out of the 47 children involved in the study, 16 received treatment at Columbia University Irving Medical Center for MIS-C. Meanwhile, 31 children of the same ages had tested positive for COVID-19 after they visited the medical center to undergo treatment for other illnesses.

Fifty percent of the kids who had no MIS-C did not suffer COVID-19 symptoms. Relatively, according to reports on the study, the 32 adults who took part in the research ranged from "severely affected patients admitted to the hospital" to those with milder infection who recovered at home.

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(Photo: Lorri Lang on Pixabay)
Children may ‘clear the virus more efficiently’ compared to adults, not to mention, they may not need a ‘strong antibody immune response’ to clear it out.

Innate Response

Kids infected with COVID-19 may produce a stronger response as well, from the innate immune system, deploying interferon and cells, also known as macrophages, to extensively attack pathogen-infected cells.

Earlier research suggested that there may be a delay in intrinsic immune response in adults with COVID-19. According to Farber, if the innate response is quite strong, that can decrease the viral load in the lungs, and the adaptive response's antibodies and T cell "have less to clear up."

Possibly too, the study investigators explained that the virus has a lesser ability to infect the cell of children, probably because these little ones' cells are expressing lesser proteins that the virus needs to infect cells of humans.

The Columbia scientists are currently testing these possibilities with cells coming from children against those that come from adults.

 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Case Report at Children's National Hospital Raises Concern for Resistance to Antibiotic

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