tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
PLOS Glob Public Health
. 2022;2(5):e0000414.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0000414. Epub 2022 May 25.
SARS-CoV-2 and endemic coronaviruses: Comparing symptom presentation and severity of symptomatic illness among Nicaraguan children
Aaron M Frutos[SUP] 1 [/SUP], John Kubale[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Guillermina Kuan[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Sergio Ojeda[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Nivea Vydiswaran[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Nery Sanchez[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Miguel Plazaola[SUP] 3 [/SUP], May Patel[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Roger Lopez[SUP] 3 4 [/SUP], Angel Balmaseda[SUP] 3 4 [/SUP], Aubree Gordon[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
It has been proposed that as SARS-CoV-2 transitions to endemicity, children will represent the greatest proportion of SARS-Co-V-2 infections as they currently do with endemic coronavirus infections. While SARS-CoV-2 infection severity is low for children, it is unclear if SARS-CoV-2 infections are distinct in symptom presentation, duration, and severity from endemic coronavirus infections in children. We compared symptom risk and duration of endemic human coronavirus (HCoV) infections from 2011-2016 with SARS-CoV-2 infections from March 2020-September 2021 in a Nicaraguan pediatric cohort. Blood samples were collected from study participants annually in February-April. Respiratory samples were collected from participants that met testing criteria. Blood samples collected in were tested for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and a subset of 2011-2016 blood samples from four-year-old children were tested for endemic HCoV antibodies. Respiratory samples were tested for each of the endemic HCoVs from 2011-2016 and for SARS-CoV-2 from 2020-2021 via rt-PCR. By April 2021, 854 (49%) cohort participants were ELISA positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Most participants had antibodies against one alpha and one beta coronavirus by age four. We observed 595 symptomatic endemic HCoV infections from 2011-2016 and 121 symptomatic with SARS-CoV-2 infections from March 2020-September 2021. Symptom presentation of SARS-CoV-2 infection and endemic coronavirus infections were very similar, and SARS-CoV-2 symptomatic infections were as or less severe on average than endemic HCoV infections. This suggests that, for children, SARS-CoV-2 may be just another endemic coronavirus. However, questions about the impact of variants and the long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 remain.
. 2022;2(5):e0000414.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0000414. Epub 2022 May 25.
SARS-CoV-2 and endemic coronaviruses: Comparing symptom presentation and severity of symptomatic illness among Nicaraguan children
Aaron M Frutos[SUP] 1 [/SUP], John Kubale[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Guillermina Kuan[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Sergio Ojeda[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Nivea Vydiswaran[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Nery Sanchez[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Miguel Plazaola[SUP] 3 [/SUP], May Patel[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Roger Lopez[SUP] 3 4 [/SUP], Angel Balmaseda[SUP] 3 4 [/SUP], Aubree Gordon[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 35785016
- PMCID: PMC9245908
- DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0000414
Abstract
It has been proposed that as SARS-CoV-2 transitions to endemicity, children will represent the greatest proportion of SARS-Co-V-2 infections as they currently do with endemic coronavirus infections. While SARS-CoV-2 infection severity is low for children, it is unclear if SARS-CoV-2 infections are distinct in symptom presentation, duration, and severity from endemic coronavirus infections in children. We compared symptom risk and duration of endemic human coronavirus (HCoV) infections from 2011-2016 with SARS-CoV-2 infections from March 2020-September 2021 in a Nicaraguan pediatric cohort. Blood samples were collected from study participants annually in February-April. Respiratory samples were collected from participants that met testing criteria. Blood samples collected in were tested for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and a subset of 2011-2016 blood samples from four-year-old children were tested for endemic HCoV antibodies. Respiratory samples were tested for each of the endemic HCoVs from 2011-2016 and for SARS-CoV-2 from 2020-2021 via rt-PCR. By April 2021, 854 (49%) cohort participants were ELISA positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Most participants had antibodies against one alpha and one beta coronavirus by age four. We observed 595 symptomatic endemic HCoV infections from 2011-2016 and 121 symptomatic with SARS-CoV-2 infections from March 2020-September 2021. Symptom presentation of SARS-CoV-2 infection and endemic coronavirus infections were very similar, and SARS-CoV-2 symptomatic infections were as or less severe on average than endemic HCoV infections. This suggests that, for children, SARS-CoV-2 may be just another endemic coronavirus. However, questions about the impact of variants and the long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 remain.