Susceptibility to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection among children and adults: a seroprevalence study of family households in the Barcelona metropolitan region, Spain
Author
Brotons, Pedro
Launes, Cristian
Buetas, Elena
Fumado, Vicky
Henares, Desirée
Fernandez de Sevilla, Mariona
Redin, Alba
Fuente-Soro, Laura
Cuadras, Daniel
Melé Casas, María
Millat-Martínez, Pere
Garcia-Garcia, Juan Jose
Bassat, Quique
Kids Corona Study Group
Publication date
2021-06ISSN
1058-4838
Abstract
Background: Susceptibility of children and adults to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and persistence of antibody response to the virus after infection resolution remain poorly understood, despite their significant public health implications. Methods: A prospective cross-sectional seroprevalence study with volunteer families that included at least 1 first-reported adult case positive by SARS-CoV-2 by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and at least 1 child aged <15 years living in the same household under strict home confinement was conducted in the metropolitan Barcelona Health Region, Spain, during the pandemic period 28 April 2020–3 June 2020. All household members were tested at home using a rapid SARS-CoV-2 antibody assay with finger prick–obtained capillary blood. Results: A total of 381 family households including 381 first-reported PCR-positive adult cases and 1084 contacts (672 children, 412 adults) were enrolled. SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence rates were 17.6% (118 of 672) in children and 18.7% (77 of 335) in adult contacts (P = .64). Among first-reported cases, seropositivity rates varied from 84.0% in adults previously hospitalized and tested within 6 weeks since the first positive PCR result to 31.5% in those not hospitalized and tested after that lag time (P < .001). Nearly all (99.9%) positive children were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms. Conclusions: Children appear to have similar probability as adults to become infected by SARS-CoV-2 in quarantined family households but remain largely asymptomatic. Adult antibody protection against SARS-CoV-2 seems to be weak beyond 6 weeks post-infection confirmation, especially in cases that have experienced mild disease.
Document Type
Article
Document version
Published version
Language
English
Subject (CDU)
61 - Medical sciences
616.9 - Communicable diseases. Infectious and contagious diseases, fevers
Keywords
COVID-19 (malaltia)
Formació d’anticossos
Síndrome respiratòria aguda
Pandèmies
Seroprevalència
COVID-19
Formación de anticuerpos
Síndrome respiratorio agudo
Pandemias
Seroprevalencia
COVID-19
Formació d’anticossos
Síndrome respiratòria aguda
Pandèmies
Seroprevalència
Pages
8
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Collection
72; 12
Is part of
Clinical Infectious Diseases
Citation
Brotons, Pedro; Launes, Cristian; Buetas, Elena [et al.]. Susceptibility to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection among children and adults: a seroprevalence study of family households in the Barcelona metropolitan region, Spain. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 2021, 72(12), e970-977. Disponible en: <https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/72/12/e970/5979490>. Fecha de acceso: 13 jul. 2021. DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciaa1721
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
- Ciències de la Salut [740]
Rights
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial reproduction and distribution of the work, in any medium, provided the original work is not altered or transformed in any way, and that the work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/