COVID-19 in children and young adults with moderate/severe inborn errors of immunity in a high burden area in pre-vaccine era
Àngela Deyà‐Martínez, Ana García‐García, Europa Azucena González‐Navarro, L. Yiyi, Alexandru Vlagea, Iolanda Jordán, Vicky Fumadó, Clàudia Fortuny, Marta Español‐Rego, Cristian Launes, Ana Esteve‐Solé, Manel Juan, Mariona Pascal, Laia Alsina
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Information regarding inborn error of immunity (IEI) as a risk factor for severe COVID-19 is scarce. We aimed to determine if paediatric patients with moderate/severe IEI got COVID-19 at the same level as the general population, and to describe COVID-19 expression. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We included patients with moderate/severe IEI aged 0-21 years old: cross-sectional study (June2020) to determine the prevalence of COVID-19; prospective study (January2020-January2021) including IEI patients with COVID-19. Assays used: nasopharyngeal swab SARS-CoV-2 PCR and SARS-CoV-2-specific immunoglobulins. RESULTS: Seven from sixty-five patients tested positive (prevalence: 10.7% (7%-13%)) after the first SARS-COV-2 wave and 13/15 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 had an asymptomatic/mild course. CONCLUSIONS: In our area, prevalence of COVID-19 in moderate/severe IEI paediatric patients after the first wave was slightly higher than in the general population. The majority of patients presented a benign course, suggesting a possible protective factor related with age despite IEI.