Non-Invasive Antibody Assessment in Saliva to Determine SARS-CoV-2 Exposure in Young Children.
Front Immunol
; 12: 753435, 2021.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1485058
ABSTRACT
Saliva is a body fluid with hitherto unused potential for the assessment of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Specific antibodies can indicate a past SARS-CoV-2 infection and allow to estimate the proportion of individuals with a potential protective immunity. First, we carefully characterized plasma samples obtained from adult control groups with and without prior SARS-CoV-2 infection using certified reference ELISAs. Simultaneously collected saliva samples of confirmed convalescent and negative individuals where then used to validate the herein newly developed ELISA for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in saliva. The saliva ELISA was applied to assess SARS-CoV-2 exposure in young children (N = 837) in the age between 1 and 10 years in Tübingen, Germany, towards the end of the first pandemic year 2020. Sensitivity and specificity of the new saliva ELISA was 87% and 100%, respectively. With 12% of all Tübingen children sampled via their respective educational institutions, estimates of SARS-CoV-2 antibody prevalence was 1.6%. Interestingly, only 0.4% preschool kids were positive compared to 3.0% of primary school children. Less than 20% of positive children self-reported symptoms within two months prior to saliva sampling that could be associated - but not exclusively - with a SARS-CoV-2 infection. The saliva ELISA is a valid and suitable protocol to enable population-based surveys for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Using non-invasive sampling and saliva ELISA testing, we found that prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was significantly lower in young children than in primary school children.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Saliva
/
COVID-19 Serological Testing
/
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
/
Antibodies, Viral
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Diagnostic study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Adult
/
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Infant
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
English
Journal:
Front Immunol
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Fimmu.2021.753435
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