Antibody response against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern in children infected with pre-Omicron variants: An observational cohort study

Abstract

Background: Despite that pediatric COVID-19 is usually asymptomatic or mild, SARS-CoV-2 infection typically results in the development of an antibody response. Contradictory observations have been reported when the antibody response of children and adults were compared in terms of strength, specificity and perdurability. Methods: This observational study includes three cohorts infected with SARS-CoV-2 between March 2020-July 2021: unvaccinated infected children (n=115), unvaccinated infected adults (n=62), and vaccinated infected children (n=76). Plasma anti-spike IgG antibodies and neutralising activity against Wuhan, Delta and Omicron variants after 7-17 months post-infection were analysed. Findings: More than 95% of unvaccinated infected children and adults remained seropositive when evaluated at 382-491 and 386-420 days after infection, respectively. Anti-spike IgG titers and plasma neutralising activity against Wuhan, Delta and Omicron variants were higher in children compared to adults. No differences were found when unvaccinated infected children were stratified by age, gender or presence/absence of symptoms in the acute phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection, but a slight decrease in the antibody response was observed in those with comorbidities. Vaccination of previously infected children with two doses of the inactivated BBIBP-CorV or the mRNA vaccines, BNT162b2 and/or mRNA-1273, further increased anti-spike IgG titers and neutralising activity against Wuhan, Delta and Omicron variants. Interpretation: Unvaccinated infected children mount a more potent and sustained antibody response compared with adults, which is significantly increased after vaccination. Further studies including not only the analysis of the immune response but also the effectiveness to prevent reinfections by the different Omicron lineages are required to optimise vaccination strategy in children. Funding: National Agency for Scientific and Technological Promotion from Argentina (PICTO-COVID-SECUELAS-00007 and PMO-BID-PICT2018-2548).