43% of children have antibodies for Covid-19: Study

Researchers assessed blood samples of more than 300 adults and 48 children and compared it with the samples of 170 people who have been infected with the viral disease. The findings showed that many children carried a particular type of antibody that is helping their immune system prevent Covid-19 infection.

Children have a distinct immune response to the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) compared to adults, a new research has found. The study was part of a research to understand the ravaging effects of the Covid-19. The Experts discovered that children’s immune systems develop a type of antibodies during common cold infections which might be giving them a degree of protection against the disease.

They assessed blood samples of more than 300 adults and 48 children and compared it with the samples of 170 people who have been infected with the viral disease. The findings showed that many children carried a particular type of antibody that is helping their immune system prevent Covid-19 infection.

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Only five per cent of adults have these antibodies, as compared to 43 per cent of children, the research showed. It is being led by George Kassiotis who heads the Retroviral Immunology Laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute.

This is not the first time a study has shown different effects of Covid-19 on people of different age groups. Another study published in an immunology journal had said that children who contract the virus rarely develop the kinds of severe respiratory and other symptoms seen in adults.

While the Covid gloom fails to be under control, there was good news on the vaccine front. Moderna Inc said its Covid-19 vaccine was almost 95% effective in a late-stage trial, another sign of progress in the hunt for tools to fight the pandemic.