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A study conducted under the leadership of a Turkish scientist at Children’s National Hospital, in Washington, DC, found that children can become infected with the coronavirus and have disease-fighting antibodies in their bodies simultaneously.
According to the Daily Mail, 6,300 children with coronavirus and 215 children who were tested for antibodies were examined in the framework of the investigation carried out by the Director of Laboratory Informatics of the hospital, Dr. Burak Bahar, whose results were published in the Journal of Pediatrics. .
The report said that researchers have found that 15% of the children had the SARS-CoV-2 virus and antibodies at the same time, while 9% of the patients tested positive for the antibodies first. The study also showed that children ages 6 to 15 took twice as long to clear the coronavirus from their bodies than patients ages 16 to 22.
The children were admitted to the National Children’s Hospital between March 13 and June 21. According to the study, out of 215 patients, 33 tested positive for both SARS-CoV-2 and antibodies, while nine of the 33 were diagnosed as positive for the antibodies. First.
Scientists identify two main types of antibodies: IgM antibodies and IgG antibodies. Although the body produces IgM a few days after infection, IgG antibodies are produced in the later stages of infection and can persist for months, possibly years, after a person has recovered.
Experts at Children’s National Hospital noted that many unanswered questions remain, such as how long children are infectious and when they begin to produce antibodies that act against the disease.
“We wanted to see what is happening in our patient population,” Bahar told DailyMail.com. “Is there a correlation between the elimination of the virus and the appearance of antibodies? We wanted to see a timeline. “
The study found that younger patients tested negative after an average of 32 days, compared to older patients who cleared the virus after an average of 18 days.
“Our general medical knowledge is that once it detects antibodies, it no longer detects the virus,” said the Turkish scientist. “But in COVID-19, we see cases of both types of antibodies in some patients, so this was interesting for us.”
The next step in the study will be to find out if the virus can be transmitted to other people when it is present at the same time as the antibodies, Bahar said.
“Having circulating antibodies does not necessarily protect you and it does not mean that you do not spread the virus,” Bahar said, emphasizing that it is important for people to remain vigilant because it is unknown if antibodies correlate with immunity and for how long this immunity can to last.
“So keep wearing masks, washing your hands and social distancing,” he said.
