AUTHOR=Úbeda María , Maza María del Carmen , Delgado Pilar , Horndler Lydia , Abia David , García-Bermejo Laura , Serrano-Villar Sergio , Calvo Cristina , Bastolla Ugo , Sainz Talia , Fresno Manuel 

TITLE=Diversity of immune responses in children highly exposed to SARS-CoV-2

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1105237

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2023.1105237

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=Background: Children are less susceptible than adults to symptomatic COVID‐19 infection, but very few studies addressed their underlying cause. Moreover, very few studies analysed why children highly exposed to the virus remain uninfected.
Methods: We analyzed serum levels of ACE2, Angiotensin II, anti-Spike and anti-N- antibodies, cytokines profiles and virus neutralization in a cohort of children at high risk of viral exposure, cohabiting with infected close relatives during the lockdown in Spain.
Results: We analysed 40 children who were highly exposed to the virus since they lived with SARS-CoV2 infected relatives during the lockdown for several months without taking preventive measures. Of those, 26 reported mild or very mild symptoms. The induced immune response to the virus was analysed 3 months after the household infection. Surprisingly, only 15 children had IgG anti-S (IgG+) determined by a sensitive method indicative of a past infection. The rest, negative for IgG anti-N or S in various tests could be further subdivided, according to IgM antibodies, in those having IgM anti-S and IgM anti-N (IgG-IgMhigh) and those having only IgM anti-N (IgG-IgMlow). Interestingly, those 2 subgroups of children with IgM antibodies have strikingly different patterns of cytokines. The IgMhigh group had significantly higher IFNa2 and IFNg levels as well as IL-10 and GM-CSF than IgMlow. In contrast, the IgMlow group had low levels of ACE2 in serum. Both groups have a weaker but significant capacity to neutralize the virus in serum than the IgG+ group. Two children were negative in all immunological antibody tests. 
Conclusions: A significant proportion of children highly exposed to SARS-CoV2 did not develop a classical adaptive immune response, defined by the production of IgG, despite being in close contact with infected relatives. A large proportion of those children show immunological signs compatible with innate immune responses (as secretion of natural antibodies and cytokines) and others displayed very low levels of viral receptor ACE2 that may have protected them from the virus spreading in the body despite high and constant viral exposure.