SARS-CoV-2 sero-immunity and quality of life in children and adolescents in relation to infections and vaccinations: the IMMUNEBRIDGE KIDS cross-sectional study, 2022
Géraldine Engels, Anna-Lisa Oechsle, Anne Schlegtendal, Christoph Maier, Sarah Holzwarth, Andrea Streng, Berit Lange, André Karch, Astrid Petersmann, Hendrik Streeck, Sabine Blaschke-Steinbrecher, Christoph Härtel, Horst Schroten, Rüdiger von Kries, Reinhard Berner, Johannes G. Liese, Folke Brinkmann, Nicole Toepfner, the IMMUNEBRIDGE KIDS study group, Johannes Förster, Oliver Kurzai, Franziska Pietsch, Elena Hick, Katharina Hecker, Thomas Lücke, Anna Hoffmann, Michaela Schwarzbach, Jakob Höppner, Denisa Drinka, Jakob Armann, Judith Blankenburg, Uta Falke, Josephine Schneider, Veronika Jäger, Viktoria Rücker, Manuela Harries, Max J. Hassenstein, Maren Dreier, Isabell von Holt, Axel Budde, Marc-André Kurosinski, Antonia Bartz, Gunnar Brandhorst, Melanie Brinkmann, Kathrin Budde, Marek Deckena, Marc Fenzlaff, Olga Hovardovska, Katja Kehl, Mirjam Kohls, Stefan Krüger, Kristin Meyer-Schlinkmann, Patrick Frank Ottensmeyer, Jens‐Peter Reese, Daniel Rosenkranz, Nicole Rübsamen, Mario Schattschneider, Christin Schäfer, Simon Schlinkert, Kai Schulze-Wundling, Stefan Störk, Carsten Tiemann, Henry Völzke, Theresa Winter, Peter U. Heuschmann, Matthias Nauck
Abstract
PURPOSE: The study evaluates the effects on sero-immunity, health status and quality of life of children and adolescents after the upsurge of the Omicron variant in Germany. METHODS: This multicenter cross-sectional study (IMMUNEBRIDGE Kids) was conducted within the German Network University Medicine (NUM) from July to October 2022. SARS-CoV-2- antibodies were measured and data on SARS-CoV-2 infections, vaccinations, health and socioeconomic factors as well as caregiver-reported evaluation on their children's health and psychological status were assessed. RESULTS: 497 children aged 2-17 years were included. Three groups were analyzed: 183 pre-schoolchildren aged 2-4 years, 176 schoolchildren aged 5-11 years and 138 adolescents aged 12-18 years. Positive antibodies against the S- or N-antigen of SARS-CoV-2 were detected in 86.5% of all participants (70.0% [128/183] of pre-schoolchildren, 94.3% of schoolchildren [166/176] and 98.6% of adolescents [136/138]). Among all children, 40.4% (201/497) were vaccinated against COVID-19 (pre-schoolchildren 4.4% [8/183], schoolchildren 44.3% [78/176] and adolescents 83.3% [115/138]). SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence was lowest in pre-school. Health status and quality of life reported by the parents were very positive at the time of the survey (Summer 2022). CONCLUSION: Age-related differences on SARS-CoV-2 sero-immunity could mainly be explained by differences in vaccination rates based on the official German vaccination recommendations as well as differences in SARS-CoV-2 infection rates in the different age groups. Health status and quality of life of almost all children were very good independent of SARS-CoV-2 infection and/or vaccination. TRIAL REGISTRATION: German Registry for Clinical Trials Identifier Würzburg: DRKS00025546 (registration: 11.09.2021), Bochum: DRKS00022434 (registration:07.08.2020), Dresden: DRKS 00022455 (registration: 23.07.2020).