Children who have had Covid-19 have natural antibodies, but still need vaccination

Take advantage of the opportunity to vaccinate children against Covid-19. (Source: AP)

Above are the results of a new study conducted by scientists in the state of Texas (USA) and published in the journal Pediatrics March 19th.

The Texas CARES study, conducted by experts at UTHealth Houston from October 2020, collected and evaluated data on 218 Texas children between the ages of 5 and 19 who participated in the survey.

The aim of the study was to assess antibody levels over time in adults and children in the state. To date, 14 million children in the US have contracted Covid-19.

Study volunteers provided three blood samples at three time points: pre-vaccination and during the time when Delta and Omicron variants were spreading.

This is the first study within the Texas CARES framework to use all data from all three periods, said Sarah Messiah, professor of epidemiology and co-author of the study.

She stressed that the results are important because the data used do not distinguish between children with Covid-19 symptoms or not, severity, time of infection or factors such as underlying disease, gender.

The results showed that, although 96% of the children had antibodies up to 7 months after contracting Covid-19, 58% of the samples did not have natural antibodies at the final tests. The results do not take into account the protective effect of the vaccine.

According to Professor Messiah, this study is only one step towards understanding the effects of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in children. We all know that natural antibodies, along with antibodies produced by vaccines, provide the best protection against Covid-19.

Currently, some parents mistakenly believe that if their child has had Covid-19 before, they will be protected by natural antibodies without vaccination.

In this study, we found that although children still have a certain amount of antibodies for at least 6 months after contracting Covid-19, we still don’t know the exact threshold of absolute protection.

We now have a great tool to give children an extra layer of protection, which is vaccination. So if your child is eligible for the vaccine, take advantage of that opportunity.”

The TEXAS CARES study, still ongoing, was co-funded by the Texas State Department of Health and the University of Texas System.