Coronavirus Research Shows Different Antibodies Response In Kids & Adults

New York: It is going to be a year since the first Coronavirus case hit the world. Even then, every other day, there is new information surrounding it.

As per new reports, researchers have found that a different type and amount of antibodies are produced in adults and children after getting cured with the coronavirus disease.

Studies suggest that most children easily clear the virus from their bodies. The study published by the journal ‘Nature Immunology’ said that older people struggle to cope with the virus compared to children.

“Our study provides an in-depth examination of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in kids, revealing a stark contrast with adults,” said study author Donna Farber from Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in the US.

“In kids, the infection course is much shorter and probably not as disseminated as in adults. Kids may clear this virus more efficiently than adults and they may not need a strong antibody immune response to get rid of it,” Farber added further.

For the research, among the 47 children in the study, 16 were treated for Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children or MIS-C. Thirty-one children in a similar age group tested positive for the virus after visiting the medical centre for the treatment of other conditions.

On the other hand, half of the children without MIS-C showed no symptoms of Covid-19.

Among adults, 32 patients were studied. Some were severely affected and admitted to the hospital and some with mild disease recovered at home.

In the study, both groups of children produced the same antibody profile which was distinct from that of adults.

As per the study, children produced fewer antibodies against the virus’s spike protein (which the virus uses to infect human cells) compared to adults.

Moreover, children’s antibodies had the least neutralising activity. In all adults, including young adults in their 20s, neutralising antibodies were produced including the sickest adults, in whom it was found the most.

In contrast to adults, children also produced very few antibodies against a viral protein that is only visible to the immune system after the virus infects human cells.

“That suggests that in kids, the infection doesn’t really spread a lot and doesn’t kill a lot of their cells,” Farber said, reported IANS.

Also, the antibody responses found in children do not suggest that children will have a weaker response to a vaccine, the researchers stressed.