Children exhibit superior immune response compared to adults in COVID-19 infection: Study
According to recent research, it has been observed that decreased T, Th, Tc, RBC, hemoglobin and increased IL-6 and IL-10 in early SARS-CoV-2 infection in children are valuable indices for early diagnosis of severe disease.
The study is published in the BMC Pediatrics.
Early diagnostic indicators and the identification of possible progression to severe or critical COVID-19 in children are unknown.
Therefore, Wenjie Lu and associates from the Department of Hematology, Wuhan Children's Hospital (Wuhan Medical Care Center for Women and Children), Tongji College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China carried out this study to investigate the immune characteristics of early SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and possible key prognostic factors for early identification of critical COVID-19.
The authors conducted a retrospective study including 121 children with COVID-19. Peripheral blood lymphocyte subset counts, T cell-derived cytokine concentrations, inflammatory factor concentrations, and routine blood counts were analyzed statistically at the initial presentation.
The results showed that-
a. The T lymphocyte subset and natural killer cell counts decreased with increasing disease severity.
b. Group III (critical cases) had a higher Th/Tc ratio than groups I and II (common and severe cases); group I had a higher B cell count than groups II and III. IL-6, IL-10, IFN-Îł, SAA, and procalcitonin levels increased with increasing disease severity. c. Hemoglobin concentration, and RBC and eosinophil counts decreased with increasing disease severity.
d. Groups II and III had significantly lower lymphocyte counts than group I.
e. T, Th, Tc, IL-6, IL-10, RBC, and hemoglobin had relatively high contribution and area under the curve values.
Hence, the authors concluded that "Decreased T, Th, Tc, RBC, hemoglobin and increased IL-6 and IL-10 in early SARS-CoV-2 infection in children are valuable indices for early diagnosis of severe disease. The significantly reduced Th and Tc cells and significantly increased IL-6, IL-10, ferritin, procalcitonin, and SAA at this stage in children with critical COVID-19 may be closely associated with the systemic cytokine storm caused by immune dysregulation."
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