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. 2023 Jul 3;10(7):ofad340.
doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofad340. eCollection 2023 Jul.

Seroepidemiology of the Seasonal Human Coronaviruses NL63, 229E, OC43 and HKU1 in France

Alix De Thoisy  1 , Tom Woudenberg  1 , Stéphane Pelleau  1 , Françoise Donnadieu  1 , Laura Garcia  1 , Laurie Pinaud  2 , Laura Tondeur  2 , Annalisa Meola  3 , Laurence Arowas  4 , Nathalie Clement  5 , Marija Backovic  3 , Marie-Noëlle Ungeheuer  4 , Arnaud Fontanet  2   6 , Michael White  1 ; COVID-Oise and SeroPed study teams
Collaborators, Affiliations

Seroepidemiology of the Seasonal Human Coronaviruses NL63, 229E, OC43 and HKU1 in France

Alix De Thoisy et al. Open Forum Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: The seasonal human coronaviruses (HCoV) NL63, 229E, OC43, and HKU1 are globally endemic, yet the majority of HCoV infections remain undiagnosed.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 2389 serum samples were collected from children and adults in France in 2020. In a longitudinal cohort study, 2520 samples were collected from 898 French individuals followed up between 2020 and 2021. Antibodies to HCoVs were measured using a bead-based multiplex assay.

Results: The rate of waning of anti-HCoV spike immunoglobulin G antibodies was estimated as 0.22-0.47 year-1 for children, and 0.13-0.27 year-1 for adults. Seroreversion was estimated as 0.31-1.37 year-1 in children and 0.19-0.72 year-1 in adults. The estimated seroconversion rate in children was consistent with 20%-39% of children being infected every year with each HCoV.

Conclusions: The high force of infection in children indicates that HCoVs may be responsible for a substantial proportion of fever episodes experienced by children.

Keywords: epidemiology; seasonal human coronavirus; serocatalytic model; serology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Potential conflicts of interest. All authors report that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Human coronavirus (HCoV) antibody kinetics in the COVID-Oise study. For the 4 HCoVs, anti–spike (S) immunoglobulin (Ig) G antibody responses were measured in samples collected in April 2020 (session 0), December 2020 (session 1), April 2021 (session 2), and November 2021 (session 3). Antibodies were measured in 2520 samples from 898 unique individuals. Abbreviation: RAU, relative antibody units.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Anti–spike (S) immunoglobulin (Ig) G antibody levels in the SeroPed cross-sectional study. Each point represents a measured antibody response. Horizontal dashed lines denote cutoffs for seropositivity. In total, 2389 samples from unique individuals were included. Abbreviations: HCoV, human coronavirus; RAU, relative antibody units.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Serocatalytic models fitted to age-stratified seroprevalence data. Points denote measured seroprevalence, with vertical bars representing 95% confidence intervals. Solid black line denote the posterior median model fit, with shaded regions representing 95% credible intervals. Vertical dashed lines denote the separation between children (aged ≤10 years) and adults (aged >10 years). Abbreviations: HCoV, human coronavirus; Ig, immunoglobulin; S, spike.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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