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Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Association of Spike-Specific T Cells With Relative Protection From Subsequent SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Infection in Young Children

Educational Objective
To identify the key insights or developments described in this article

1 Credit CME

JAMA Pediatrics

Published Online: October 24, 2022

Research Letter

Article Information and Disclosures

Alexander C. Dowell, PhD¹;

Georgina Ireland, PhD²;

Jianmin Zuo, PhD¹;

Paul Moss, MD¹;

Shamez Ladhani, MD²;

for the sKIDs Investigation Team

Author Affiliations

¹Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
²Public Health England, London, United Kingdom

sKIDs Investigation Teamfor the

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Article Information

Accepted for Publication: July 13, 2022.

Published Online: October 24, 2022. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2022.3868

Open Access: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC-BY License. © 2022 Dowell AC et al. JAMA Pediatrics.

Corresponding Author: Alexander C. Dowell, PhD, Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom (a.c.dowell@bham.ac.uk); Shamez Ladhani, MD, Immunisation and Countermeasures Division, Public Health England Colindale, London NW9 5EQ, United Kingdom (shamez.ladhani@phe.gov.uk).

Author Contributions: Dr Dowell had full access to all of the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. Drs Moss and Ladhani served as co-senior authors and contributed equally to the work.

Concept and design: Dowell, Ladhani.

Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: All authors.

Drafting of the manuscript: Dowell, Moss, Ladhani.

Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: Ireland, Zuo, Ladhani.

Statistical analysis: Dowell, Moss.

Obtained funding: Moss, Ladhani.

Administrative, technical, or material support: Ireland, Zuo, Moss.

Supervision: Moss, Ladhani.

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported.

Funding/Support: This study was funded by the Department of Health and Social Care and grant MR/V028448/1 (Dr Moss) from the UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium.

Role of the Funder/Sponsor: The funder had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

sKIDs Investigation Team: Shazaad Ahmad, MRCPath (Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, UK); Felicity Aiano, MSc (Immunisation and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Division, UK Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom); Gayatri Amirthalingam, MFP (Immunisation and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Division, UK Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom); Frances Baawuah, MRCP (Immunisation and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Division, UK Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom); Joanne Beckmann, MRCPCH(UK) (East London NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom); Andrew J. Brent, FRCP (Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and University of Oxford, United Kingdom); Bernadette Brent, MD (Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and University of Oxford, United Kingdom); Kevin E. Brown, FRCPath (Immunisation and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Division, UK Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom); Joanna Garstang, MBCHB (Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust, United Kingdom); Ifeanyichukwu O. Okike, PhD, FRCPCH (UK) (Derbyshire Children’s Hospital [University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust], Derby, United Kingdom); Mary E. Ramsay, FFPH (Immunisation and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Division, UK Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom).

Additional Contributions: The authors thank the sKIDs Investigation Team, schools, headteachers, staff, families, and especially the very brave children who took part in the sKIDs surveillance study.

References

Kundu R , Narean JS , Wang L , et al. Cross-reactive memory T cells associate with protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection in COVID-19 contacts. Nat Commun. 2022;13(1):80. doi:10.1038/s41467-021-27674-x PubMed Google Scholar Crossref

Swadling L , Diniz MO , Schmidt NM , et al; COVIDsortium Investigators. Pre-existing polymerase-specific T cells expand in abortive seronegative SARS-CoV-2. Nature. 2022;601(7891):110-117. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-04186-8 PubMed Google Scholar Crossref

Geurts van Kessel CH , Geers D , Schmitz KS , et al. Divergent SARS-CoV-2 Omicron-reactive T and B cell responses in COVID-19 vaccine recipients. Sci Immunol. 2022;7(69):eabo2202. doi:10.1126/sciimmunol.abo2202 PubMed Google Scholar Crossref

Dowell AC , Butler MS , Jinks E , et al. Children develop robust and sustained cross-reactive spike-specific immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Nat Immunol. 2022;23(1):40-49. doi:10.1038/s41590-021-01089-8 PubMed Google Scholar Crossref

Dorabawila V , Hoefer D , Bauer UE , Bassett M , Lutterloh E , Rosenberg ES . Risk of infection and hospitalization among vaccinated and unvaccinated children and adolescents in New York after the emergence of the Omicron variant. JAMA. 2022;327(22):2242-2244. doi:10.1001/jama.2022.7319 Google Scholar Crossref

Walter EB , Talaat KR , Sabharwal C , et al; C4591007 Clinical Trial Group. Evaluation of the BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine in children 5 to 11 years of age. N Engl J Med. 2022;386(1):35-46. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2116298 PubMed Google Scholar Crossref

AMA CME Accreditation Information

Credit Designation Statement: The American Medical Association designates this Journal-based CME activity activity for a maximum of 1.00  AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to:

1.00 Medical Knowledge MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;;
1.00 Self-Assessment points in the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery’s (ABOHNS) Continuing Certification program;
1.00 MOC points in the American Board of Pediatrics’ (ABP) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;
1.00 Lifelong Learning points in the American Board of Pathology’s (ABPath) Continuing Certification program; and
1.00 CME points in the American Board of Surgery’s (ABS) Continuing Certification program

It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting MOC credit.