During the first few months of the pandemic, researchers determined that older adults and those with pre-existing conditions were at high-risk of getting coronavirus. It was only until schools reopened that experts better understood how the virus affects children. In a study led by the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, results suggested the children can self-immunize despite sharing the same room as symptomatic parents.
Young children make up a small percentage of coronavirus cases around the world and very little is understood about their immune response to coronavirus. A few reported cases were categorized as Paediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome Temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 which replicated the Kawasaki disease.
Another study from July described neurological symptoms and damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems. Symptoms such as confusion and drunk-like behavior were observed instead of the typical respiratory symptoms reported in adults.
Family Case Study
The findings were recently published in the journal Nature Communications presenting a unique case study of a family from Melbourne, Australia. The parents both tested positive for the virus and showed symptoms while the children, including one who shared the same bed with mom and dad, repeatedly tested negative for Covid-19.
Dr. Shidan Tosif explained that children typically have very mild symptoms or are asymptomatic. There is still a lack of research describing the differences between the immune responses of adults and children against coronavirus.
The parents both became infected after attending a wedding while their children stayed at home. After developing symptoms, the researchers regularly conducted swab tests and took blood samples every two or three days for over two months.
Dr. Melanie Neeland led the laboratory research which analyzed the immune cells and antibodies from every sample. Results showed that all three children, who are all in primary school, developed an antibody response to coronavirus.
The youngest child, a five-year-old girl, had the strongest antibody response with no present symptoms, said Dr. Neeland. Even with the active immune cell response in the three children, cytokine levels remained low. Cytokines are messengers in the immune system that trigger an inflammatory response to an intruder.
Further Research on Immune Responses
Dr. Tosif said that the entire family eventually recovered without hospitalization. However, it remains uncertain how long their immune systems can prevent reinfection.
Negative tests of the children did not mean they were uninfected, explained the researchers. Having the same SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody-mediated immune responses as their parents suggested that they were actually infected but their immune system effectively hindered the virus from replicating.
Further studies are needed, wrote the authors, "to determine antibody magnitude and kinetics in children." Associate Professor Nigel Crawford concluded that researching the immune responses of all ages is "key to understanding disease susceptibility, severity differences, and vaccine candidates" for coronavirus.
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