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Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)
A study by Australian researchers shows that children are more at risk of reinfection with Covid-19 than adults. Be careful not to misunderstand these results according to Dr Gérald Kierzek, medical director of Doctissimo.
The Covid-19 continues to intrigue scientists, especially regarding contamination of children. Australian scientists had the idea of studying reinfections in children and the latter seem to be more sensitive to it, even though the severe forms are less numerous for them too.
Fewer antibodies in children…
The study was carried out on 57 children aged 4 on average and 51 adults aged 37 on average, all of whom tested positive for the Covid-19 virus between May and October 2020 and were asymptomatic or exhibiting mild symptoms.
The authors measured the level of viral RNA and the presence of antibodies from blood samples. The results showed an almost identical viral load between adults and children but a significant difference in terms of antibodies: only 37% of children produced them against 76% of adults.
But a stronger immune response?
According to the authors of this study, children would however have a solid immune response to Covid-19. This immunity would nevertheless be less rich in number of antibodies, which would explain the risk of reinfections in children.
The question of their protection against the virus over time arises. Children would thus be at greater risk of reinfection, even if scientists remain cautious about this risk.
Consult a GP online
For the authors of this work, the explanation would come from the fact that children have a stronger innate immune response than adults. Moreover, they also measured the levels of immune cells in the blood and found fewer B and T memory lymphocytes (those that produce antibodies) in children than in adults. For Dr Gérald Kierzek, emergency physician and medical director of Doctissimo, “this study shows that we must stop focusing on antibodies” and “serology, which consists of measuring antibodies in the blood, is only a partial reflection of immunity”.
“You can have few antibodies and good immunity and vice versa. And the particularity in children is the protection conferred on them by IgA or immunoglobulins A. These molecules make it possible to contain the infection in the ENT area and to treat it, it is a protection which reduces the risk of transmission. This is why I said that the children had to be allowed to contaminate each other: this thus helped to break the chains of transmission of the virus. concludes the doctor.