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Children may have greater protection against the coronavirus because they catch many colds, research suggests.
The study found that children are eight times more likely than adults to naturally have antibodies that help fight Covid-19 even though they have never had it.
Research from the Francis Crick Institute found that 44 percent of those under the age of 16, but only five percent of adults, have “cross-reactive” antibodies that offer some protection against Covid.
The antibodies come from exposure to common colds, which come from the same coronavirus family, but adults are less likely to develop them despite coming into contact with the same insects.
The study of 300 blood samples, collected before the pandemic, helps explain why children are significantly less likely to contract or get sick from Covid.
Lead researcher Kevin Ng of the Crick Institute said: “Our results show that children are much more likely to have these cross-reactive antibodies than adults. More research is needed to understand why this is so, but it could be due to children are more regularly exposed to other coronaviruses.
“These higher levels that we observe in children could also help explain why they are less likely to become seriously ill with Covid-19. However, there is still no evidence that these antibodies prevent infection or the spread of SARS-CoV- 2”.
The findings, published in the journal Science, show that cold, cross-reactive antibodies help neutralize Covid-19.
Only 22 people under the age of 20 have died of Covid in England out of 34,091 deaths in hospitals.
Researcher George Kassiotis, also of the Crick Institute, said that protection against antibodies caused by colds could help in the search for a successful vaccine.
He added: “This is exciting as understanding the basis for this activity could lead to vaccines that work against a variety of coronaviruses, including strains of the common cold, as well as SARS-CoV-2 and any future pandemic strains.
“But it is important to emphasize that there are still many unknowns that require further investigation. For example, how exactly is immunity to one coronavirus modified by exposure to another? Or why does this activity decrease with age?”
“It is not the case that people who have recently had a cold should think they are immune to Covid-19.”
A large study is now underway, in partnership with researchers from Imperial College London and University College London, to discover the role that different antibodies and other immune defenses play in protecting against coronavirus.
