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Kids Who Had Mild/Asymptomatic COVID Still Have Antibodies Months Later
The study found that the children and adolescents who previously had COVID-19 developed antibody responses capable of neutralizing the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Further, these responses were comparable or superior to those observed in adults. “The study shows that children who’ve had mild infections or even those who did not have any symptoms, develop an immune response that will likely provide some protection against future infections,” said co-lead author Jillian Hurst, assistant professor in the pediatrics department at Duke University School of Medicine. The researchers evaluated the SARS-CoV-2-specific immune responses in 69 children and adolescents, with ages ranging from 2 months old to 21 years old. The median age of participants was 11.5 years, and 51 percent were female. The researchers measured antibody responses among children and adolescents with asymptomatic and mild symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection and found that the antibody response didn’t differ based on the presence of symptoms, and SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies remained detectable in the majority of participants up to four months after infection. The researchers also compared the children’s immune responses to those of adults. They found that all children, regardless of age group, had equivalent or slightly higher levels of antibodies than adults at two months and four months after acute infection. “Most studies of the immune responses of children to SARS-CoV-2 have focused on patients hospitalized for severe COVID-19 or multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), or have assessed immunity only during acute infection,” Fouda said. “Our study provides important information that SARS-CoV-2-specific immune responses, regardless of disease severity, may decline over time more slowly in children and adolescents.” The study of 69 children appears in JCI Insight.
Yes, you should be vaccinated regardless of whether you already had COVID-19. That’s because experts do not yet know how long you are protected from getting sick again after recovering from COVID-19. Even if you have already recovered from COVID-19, it is possible—although rare—that you could be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 again. Studies have shown that vaccination provides a strong boost in protection in people who have recovered from COVID-19. Learn more about why getting vaccinated is a safer way to build protection than getting infected.