SARS-CoV-2 Serostatus and COVID-19 Illness Characteristics by Variant Time Period in Non-Hospitalized Children and Adolescents

• Main Authors: Sarah E. Messiah (Author), Michael D. Swartz (Author), Rhiana A. Abbas (Author), Yashar Talebi (Author), Harold W. Kohl (Author), Melissa Valerio-Shewmaker (Author), Stacia M. DeSantis (Author), Ashraf Yaseen (Author), Steven H. Kelder (Author), Jessica A. Ross (Author), Lindsay N. Padilla (Author), Michael O. Gonzalez (Author), Leqing Wu (Author), David Lakey (Author), Jennifer A. Shuford (Author), Stephen J. Pont (Author), Eric Boerwinkle (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: MDPI AG, 2023-04-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

Objective: To describe COVID-19 illness characteristics, risk factors, and SARS-CoV-2 serostatus by variant time period in a large community-based pediatric sample. Design: Data were collected prospectively over four timepoints between October 2020 and November 2022 from a population-based cohort ages 5 to 19 years old. Setting: State of Texas, USA. Participants: Participants ages 5 to 19 years were recruited from large pediatric healthcare systems, Federally Qualified Healthcare Centers, urban and rural clinical practices, health insurance providers, and a social media campaign. Exposure: SARS-CoV-2 infection. Main Outcome(s) and Measure(s): SARS-CoV-2 antibody status was assessed by the Roche Elecsys^® Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Immunoassay for detection of antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein (Roche N-test). Self-reported antigen or PCR COVID-19 test results and symptom status were also collected. Results: Over half (57.2%) of the sample (N = 3911) was antibody positive. Symptomatic infection increased over time from 47.09% during the pre-Delta variant time period, to 76.95% during Delta, to 84.73% during Omicron, and to 94.79% during the Omicron BA.2. Those who were not vaccinated were more likely (OR 1.71, 95% CI 1.47, 2.00) to be infected versus those fully vaccinated. Conclusions: Results show an increase in symptomatic COVID-19 infection among non-hospitalized children with each progressive variant over the past two years. Findings here support the public health guidance that eligible children should remain up to date with COVID-19 vaccinations.

Item Description

10.3390/children10050818
2227-9067