Institute for Maternal and Child Health, IRCCS "Burlo Garofolo", Trieste, Italy.
University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy.
Ital J Pediatr. 2021 Jun 5;47(1):131. doi: 10.1186/s13052-021-01074-9.
Data on the effective burden of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in pediatric population are very limited, mostly because of the higher rate of asymptomatic or paucisymptomatic cases among children. Updated data on COVID-19 prevalence are needed for their relevance in public health and for infection control policies. In this single-centre cross-sectional study we aimed to assess prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection through IgG antibodies detection in an Italian pediatric cohort.
The study was conducted in January 2021 among both inpatients and outpatients referring to Research Institute for Maternal and Child Health "Burlo Garofolo" in Trieste, Friuli Venezia-Giulia, Italy, who needed for blood test for any reason. Collected samples were sent to Italian National Institute of Health for analysis through chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA).
One hundred sixty-nine patients were included in the study, with a median age of 10.5 ± 4.1 years, an equal distribution for sex (49.7% female patients), and a 55.6% prevalence of comorbidities. Prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 trimeric Spike protein IgG antibodies was 9.5% (n = 16), with a medium titre of 482.3 ± 387.1 BAU/mL. Having an infected cohabitant strongly correlated with IgG positivity (OR 23.83, 95% CI 7.19-78.98, p < 0.0001), while a cohabitant healthcare worker wasn't associated with a higher risk (OR 1.53, 95% CI 0.4-5.86, p 0.46). All of the 5 patients who had previously tested positive to a nasopharyngeal swab belonged to the IgG positive group, with a 3-month interval from the infection at most.
We assessed a 9.5% SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in a pediatric cohort from Friuli Venezia-Giulia region in January 2021, showing a substantial increase after the second peak of the pandemic occurred starting from October 2020, compared to 1% prevalence observed by National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) in July 2020.
关于 SARS-CoV-2 大流行在儿科人群中有效负担的数据非常有限，主要是因为儿童中无症状或症状较轻的病例发生率较高。为了公共卫生和感染控制政策的相关性，需要更新 COVID-19 流行率的最新数据。在这项单中心横断面研究中，我们旨在通过检测意大利儿科队列中 SARS-CoV-2 感染的 IgG 抗体来评估其感染率。
该研究于 2021 年 1 月在意大利弗留利-威尼斯朱利亚大区的里雅斯特妇幼保健研究所的住院患者和门诊患者中进行，这些患者因任何原因需要进行血液检查。收集的样本被送到意大利国家卫生研究院通过化学发光免疫分析（CLIA）进行分析。
本研究共纳入 169 例患者，中位年龄为 10.5±4.1 岁，性别分布均等（49.7%为女性患者），合并症患病率为 55.6%。抗 SARS-CoV-2 三聚体 Spike 蛋白 IgG 抗体的阳性率为 9.5%（n=16），平均滴度为 482.3±387.1 BAU/mL。有感染的同住者与 IgG 阳性强烈相关（OR 23.83，95%CI 7.19-78.98，p<0.0001），而同住的医务人员则与更高的风险无关（OR 1.53，95%CI 0.4-5.86，p 0.46）。之前鼻咽拭子检测呈阳性的 5 例患者均属于 IgG 阳性组，从感染到最多有 3 个月的间隔。
我们评估了 2021 年 1 月弗留利-威尼斯朱利亚地区儿科队列中 9.5%的 SARS-CoV-2 血清流行率，与 2020 年 10 月开始的大流行第二波相比，这一比例显著增加，而国家统计局（ISTAT）在 2020 年 7 月观察到的流行率为 1%。
