Children and adolescents who had mild to asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 were found to have robust antibody responses up to four months after infection, according to a study of 69 children tested at Duke Health.
The study, appearing in the journal JCI Insight, found that the children and adolescents who previously had COVID-19 developed antibody responses that were capable of neutralizing the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Further, these responses were comparable or superior to those observed in adults.
“These findings are encouraging, especially because we cannot yet vaccinate children under the age of 12 against the virus,” said co-lead author Jillian Hurst, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Duke University School of Medicine. “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.”