Antibody conversion rates to SARS-CoV-2 in saliva from children attending summer schools in Barcelona, Spain

Background Surveillance tools to estimate viral transmission dynamics in young populations are essential to guide recommendations for school opening and management during viral epidemics. Ideally, sensitive techniques are required to detect low viral load exposures among asymptomatic children. We ai...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Dobaño C, Alonso S, Fernández de Sevilla M, Vidal M, Jiménez A, Pons Tomas G, Jairoce C, Melé Casas M, Rubio R, Hernández García M, Ruiz-Olalla G, Girona-Alarcón M, Barrios D, Santano R, Mitchell RA, Puyol L, Mayer L, Chi J, Rodrigo Melero N, Carolis C, Garcia-Miquel A, Bonet-Carne E, Claverol J, Cubells M, Fortuny C, Fumadó V, Jou C, Muñoz-Almagro C, Izquierdo L, Bassat Q, Gratacós E, Aguilar R, García-García JJ, Moncunill G, Jordan I
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Fundació Sant Joan de Déu
Repositorio:r-FSJD. Repositorio Institucional de Producción Científica de la Fundació Sant Joan de Déu
OAI Identifier:oai:fsjd.fundanetsuite.com:p20338
Acceso en línea:https://fsjd.fundanetsuite.com/Publicaciones/ProdCientif/PublicacionFrw.aspx?id=20338
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:SARS-CoV-2
Antibody conversion
Saliva
Children
Schools
Descripción
Sumario:Background Surveillance tools to estimate viral transmission dynamics in young populations are essential to guide recommendations for school opening and management during viral epidemics. Ideally, sensitive techniques are required to detect low viral load exposures among asymptomatic children. We aimed to estimate SARS-CoV-2 infection rates in children and adult populations in a school-like environment during the initial COVID-19 pandemic waves using an antibody-based field-deployable and non-invasive approach. Methods Saliva antibody conversion defined as >= 4-fold increase in IgM, IgA, and/or IgG levels to five SARS-CoV-2 antigens including spike and nucleocapsid constructs was evaluated in 1509 children and 396 adults by high-throughput Luminex assays in samples collected weekly in 22 summer schools and 2 pre-schools in 27 venues in Barcelona, Spain, from June 29th to July 31st, 2020. Results Saliva antibody conversion between two visits over a 5-week period was 3.22% (49/1518) or 2.36% if accounting for potentially cross-reactive antibodies, six times higher than the cumulative infection rate (0.53%) assessed by weekly saliva RT-PCR screening. IgG conversion was higher in adults (2.94%, 11/374) than children (1.31%, 15/1144) (p=0.035), IgG and IgA levels moderately increased with age, and antibodies were higher in females. Most antibody converters increased both IgG and IgA antibodies but some augmented either IgG or IgA, with a faster decay over time for IgA than IgG. Nucleocapsid rather than spike was the main antigen target. Anti-spike antibodies were significantly higher in individuals not reporting symptoms than symptomatic individuals, suggesting a protective role against COVID-19. Conclusion Saliva antibody profiling including three isotypes and multiplexing antigens is a useful and user-friendlier tool for screening pediatric populations to detect low viral load exposures among children, particularly while they are not vaccinated and vulnerable to highly contagious variants, and to recommend public health policies during pandemics.

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