Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Feb 12;9(2):246.
doi: 10.3390/children9020246.

Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 IgG Seroprevalence in Children and Factors Associated with Seroconversion: Results from a Multiple Time-Points Study in Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region, Italy

Marzia Lazzerini  1 , Simone Benvenuto  2 , Ilaria Mariani  1 , Giorgio Fedele  3 , Pasqualina Leone  3 , Paola Stefanelli  3 , Giada Vittori  1 , Silvana Schreiber  1 , Alberto Tommasini  1   2 , Giovanni Rezza  3 , Egidio Barbi  1   2 , Manola Comar  1   2
Affiliations

Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 IgG Seroprevalence in Children and Factors Associated with Seroconversion: Results from a Multiple Time-Points Study in Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region, Italy

Marzia Lazzerini et al. Children (Basel). .

Abstract

Data on the effective burden of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in the pediatric population are limited. We aimed at assessing the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in children at three subsequent time-points. The study was conducted between January 2021 and July 2021 among children referring to the Research Institute for Maternal and Child Health "Burlo Garofolo" in Trieste, a referral regional hospital in Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy. A multivariate analysis was conducted to assess factors independently associated with seroconversion. A total of 594 children were included. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 trimeric Spike protein IgG antibodies were found in 32 (15.4%) children tested in April-May and in 20 (11.8%) in June-July 2021, compared with 24 (11.1%) of those tested in January-February 2021 (p = 0.37, Armitage exact test for trend over time p = 0.76). A subgroup analysis and a multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed considering sociodemographic, clinical, and historical variables. Three categories of children showed statistically significant increased odds of positive anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies: children previously positive to a nasopharyngeal swab (AdjOR 15.41, 95%CI 3.44-69.04, p < 0.001), cohabitant with a person with an history of a previous positive nasopharyngeal swab (AdjOR 9.95, 95%CI 5.35-18.52, p < 0.001), and children with a foreign citizenship (AdjOR 2.4, 95%CI 1.05-5.70, p = 0.002). The study suggests that seroprevalence studies may be of limited help in estimating the prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic in children. Further studies are needed to identify other markers of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection in children, such as CD4+ T cells or memory B-cells.

Keywords: COVID-19; IgG antibodies; Italy; children; seroprevalence.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study flow diagram.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Seroprevalence rate over time in the three time periods.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Seroprevalence rate on a weekly basis when compared to all-age new cases of COVID-19 assessed through nasopharyngeal swab in FVG Region. Data source for new COVID-19 cases: Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Civil Protection Department, data freely available at https://mappe.protezionecivile.gov.it/it/mappe-emergenze/mappe-coronavirus/situazione-desktop (accessed on 4 December 2021) [18].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. World Health Organization Recommendations. [(accessed on 25 January 2022)]. Available online: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/global-r....
    1. Rostami A., Sepidarkish M., Leeflang M.M.G., Riahi S.M., Nourollahpour Shiadeh M., Esfandyari S., Mokdad A.H., Hotez P.J., Gasser R.B. SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence worldwide: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. 2021;27:331–340. doi: 10.1016/j.cmi.2020.10.020. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Einarsdóttir J. Research with children: Methodological and ethical challenges. Eur. Early Child. Educ. Res. J. 2007;15:197–211. doi: 10.1080/13502930701321477. - DOI
    1. SeroTracker. [(accessed on 17 October 2021)]. Available online: https://serotracker.com/en/Explore.
    1. Istat Indagine Sierologica su Covid-19 Condotta da Ministero Della Salute e Istat. [(accessed on 17 October 2021)];2020 June 12; Available online: https://www.istat.it/it/archivio/242676.