Koirala, Archana; McRae, Jocelynne; Britton, Philip N; Downes, Marnie; Prasad, Shayal A; Nicholson, Suellen; Winkler, Noni E; O'Sullivan, Matthew V N; Gondalwala, Fatima; Castellano, Cecile; Carey, Emma; Hendry, Alexandra; Crawford, Nigel; Wadia, Ushma; Richmond, Peter; Marshall, Helen S; Clark, Julia E; Francis, Joshua; Carr, Jeremy; Bartlett, Adam; McMullan, Brendan; Skowno, Justin; Hannah, Donald; Davidson, Andrew; von Ungern-Sternberg, Britta S; Lee-Archer, Paul; Burgoyne, Laura L; Waugh, Edith; Carlin, John B; Naing, Zin; Kerly, Nicole; McMinn, Alissa; Hunter, Guillian; Heath, Christine; D'Angelo, Natascha; Finucane, Carolyn; Francis, Laura A; Dougherty, Sonia; Rawlinson, William; Karapanagiotidis, Theo; Cain, Natalie; Brizuela, Rianne; Blyth, Christopher C; Wood, Nicholas; Macartney, Kristine

Author(s)

Koirala, Archana

McRae, Jocelynne

Britton, Philip N

Downes, Marnie

Prasad, Shayal A

Nicholson, Suellen

Winkler, Noni E

O'Sullivan, Matthew V N

Gondalwala, Fatima

Castellano, Cecile

Carey, Emma

Hendry, Alexandra

Crawford, Nigel

Wadia, Ushma

Richmond, Peter

Marshall, Helen S

Clark, Julia E

Francis, Joshua

Carr, Jeremy

Bartlett, Adam

McMullan, Brendan

Skowno, Justin

Hannah, Donald

Davidson, Andrew

von Ungern-Sternberg, Britta S

Lee-Archer, Paul

Burgoyne, Laura L

Waugh, Edith

Carlin, John B

Naing, Zin

Kerly, Nicole

McMinn, Alissa

Hunter, Guillian

Heath, Christine

D'Angelo, Natascha

Finucane, Carolyn

Francis, Laura A

Dougherty, Sonia

Rawlinson, William

Karapanagiotidis, Theo

Cain, Natalie

Brizuela, Rianne

Blyth, Christopher C

Wood, Nicholas

Macartney, Kristine

Publication Date

2024-09-18

Abstract

Following reduction of public health and social measures concurrent with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron emergence in late 2021 in Australia, COVID-19 case notification rates rose rapidly. As rates of direct viral testing and reporting dropped, true infection rates were most likely to be underestimated.To better understand infection rates and immunity in this population, we aimed to estimate SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Australians aged 0-19 years.We conducted a national cross sectional serosurvey from June 1, 2022, to August 31, 2022, in children aged 0-19 years undergoing an anesthetic procedure at eight tertiary pediatric hospitals. Participant questionnaires were administered, and blood samples tested using the Roche Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 total spike and nucleocapsid antibody assays. Spike and nucleocapsid seroprevalence adjusted for geographic and socioeconomic imbalances in the participant sample compared to the Australian population was estimated using multilevel regression and poststratification within a Bayesian framework.Blood was collected from 2,046 participants (median age: 6.6 years). The overall adjusted seroprevalence of spike-antibody was 92.1% (95% credible interval (CrI) 91.0-93.3%) and nucleocapsid-antibody was 67.0% (95% CrI 64.6-69.3). In unvaccinated children spike and nucleocapsid antibody seroprevalences were 84.2% (95% CrI 81.9-86.5) and 67.1% (95%CrI 64.0-69.8), respectively. Seroprevalence was similar across geographic remoteness index and socioeconomic quintiles. Nucleocapsid antibody seroprevalence increased with age while the point seroprevalence of the spike antibody seroprevalence decreased in the first year of life and then increased to 97.8 (95% Crl 96.1-99.2) by 12-15 years of age.Most Australian children and adolescents aged 0-19 years, across all jurisdictions were infected with SARS-CoV-2 by August 2022, suggesting rapid and uniform spread across the population in a very short time period. High seropositivity in unvaccinated children informed COVID-19 vaccine recommendations in Australia.

Affiliation

National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Westmead, NSW, Australia.

Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney's Hospital Westmead Clinical School, Westmead, NSW, Australia.

Department of Infectious Diseases, Nepean Hospital, Kingswood, NSW, Australia.

Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney's Hospital Westmead Clinical School, Westmead, NSW, Australia.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, The Children's Hospital Westmead, Westmead, NSW, Australia.

Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia.

Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.

National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Westmead, NSW, Australia.

Infectious Diseases Serology, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, The Royal Melbourne Hospital at The Doherty Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Westmead, NSW, Australia.

Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, New South Wales Pathology, Westmead, Australia.

National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Westmead, NSW, Australia.

Infection, Immunity & Global Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia.

Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccine and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, Nedlands, WA, Australia.

Centre for Child Health Research, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia.

Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccine and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, Nedlands, WA, Australia.

Centre for Child Health Research, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia.

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaid, SA, Australia.

Infection Management, Children's Health Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

School of Clinical Medicine, University of Queensland, Herston, QLD, Australia.

Global and Tropical Health Division, Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Tiwi, NT, Australia.

Department of Paediatrics, Royal Darwin Hospital, Tiwi, NT, Australia.

Department of Infection and Immunity, Monash Children's Hospital Melbourne, Clayton, VIC, Australia.

Department of Paediatrics, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia.

Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick, NSW, Australia.

Department of Anaesthesia, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, NSW, Australia.

Melbourne Children's Trials Centre, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia.

Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine, Perth Children's Hospital, Nedland, WA, Australia.

Institute for Paediatric Perioperative Excellence, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.

Department of Anaesthesia, Queensland Children's Hospital, South Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland, Herston, QLD, Australia.

Department of Children's Anaesthesia, Women's and Children's Hospital, North Adelaide, SA, Australia.

Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Royal Darwin Hospital, NT, Australia.

Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia.

Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.

Serology and Virology Division (SAViD), Department of Microbiology, NSW Health Pathology East, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, NSW, Australia.

Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick, NSW, Australia.

Surveillance of Adverse Events Following Vaccination In the Community (SAFEVIC), Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.

Department of Infection and Immunity, Monash Children's Hospital Melbourne, Clayton, VIC, Australia.

University Department of Paediatrics, Women's and Children's Hospital, North Adelaide, SA, Australia.

Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Telethon Kids Institute, Nedlands, WA, Australia.

Department of Paediatrics, Royal Darwin Hospital, Tiwi, NT, Australia.

Infectious Diseases Research, Children's Health Queensland, South Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Serology and Virology Division (SAViD), Department of Microbiology, NSW Health Pathology East, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, NSW, Australia.

Infectious Diseases Serology, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, The Royal Melbourne Hospital at The Doherty Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccine and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, Nedlands, WA, Australia.

National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Westmead, NSW, Australia.

Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney's Hospital Westmead Clinical School, Westmead, NSW, Australia.

National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Westmead, NSW, Australia.

Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney's Hospital Westmead Clinical School, Westmead, NSW, Australia.

Citation

PLoS One . 2024 Sep 18;19(9):e0300555. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300555. eCollection 2024.

ISSN

1932-6203

OrcId

0000-0002-2567-8825

0000-0002-2993-6000

0000-0001-6585-7150

0000-0002-7532-9316

0000-0002-8685-5389

0000-0002-4675-0232

Pubmed ID

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39292730/?otool=iaurydwlib

Link

https://hdl.handle.net/10137/13625

Subject

MESH subject

Humans

Child

Child, Preschool

Australia

COVID-19

Adolescent

Seroepidemiologic Studies

Infant

Cross-Sectional Studies

Female

Male

SARS-CoV-2

Antibodies, Viral

Infant, Newborn

Young Adult

Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus

Title

The seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies in Australian children: A cross-sectional study.

Type of document

Journal Article

Entity Type

Publication

Author(s)	Koirala, Archana McRae, Jocelynne Britton, Philip N Downes, Marnie Prasad, Shayal A Nicholson, Suellen Winkler, Noni E O'Sullivan, Matthew V N Gondalwala, Fatima Castellano, Cecile Carey, Emma Hendry, Alexandra Crawford, Nigel Wadia, Ushma Richmond, Peter Marshall, Helen S Clark, Julia E Francis, Joshua Carr, Jeremy Bartlett, Adam McMullan, Brendan Skowno, Justin Hannah, Donald Davidson, Andrew von Ungern-Sternberg, Britta S Lee-Archer, Paul Burgoyne, Laura L Waugh, Edith Carlin, John B Naing, Zin Kerly, Nicole McMinn, Alissa Hunter, Guillian Heath, Christine D'Angelo, Natascha Finucane, Carolyn Francis, Laura A Dougherty, Sonia Rawlinson, William Karapanagiotidis, Theo Cain, Natalie Brizuela, Rianne Blyth, Christopher C Wood, Nicholas Macartney, Kristine
Publication Date	2024-09-18
Abstract	Following reduction of public health and social measures concurrent with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron emergence in late 2021 in Australia, COVID-19 case notification rates rose rapidly. As rates of direct viral testing and reporting dropped, true infection rates were most likely to be underestimated.To better understand infection rates and immunity in this population, we aimed to estimate SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Australians aged 0-19 years.We conducted a national cross sectional serosurvey from June 1, 2022, to August 31, 2022, in children aged 0-19 years undergoing an anesthetic procedure at eight tertiary pediatric hospitals. Participant questionnaires were administered, and blood samples tested using the Roche Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 total spike and nucleocapsid antibody assays. Spike and nucleocapsid seroprevalence adjusted for geographic and socioeconomic imbalances in the participant sample compared to the Australian population was estimated using multilevel regression and poststratification within a Bayesian framework.Blood was collected from 2,046 participants (median age: 6.6 years). The overall adjusted seroprevalence of spike-antibody was 92.1% (95% credible interval (CrI) 91.0-93.3%) and nucleocapsid-antibody was 67.0% (95% CrI 64.6-69.3). In unvaccinated children spike and nucleocapsid antibody seroprevalences were 84.2% (95% CrI 81.9-86.5) and 67.1% (95%CrI 64.0-69.8), respectively. Seroprevalence was similar across geographic remoteness index and socioeconomic quintiles. Nucleocapsid antibody seroprevalence increased with age while the point seroprevalence of the spike antibody seroprevalence decreased in the first year of life and then increased to 97.8 (95% Crl 96.1-99.2) by 12-15 years of age.Most Australian children and adolescents aged 0-19 years, across all jurisdictions were infected with SARS-CoV-2 by August 2022, suggesting rapid and uniform spread across the population in a very short time period. High seropositivity in unvaccinated children informed COVID-19 vaccine recommendations in Australia.
Affiliation	National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Westmead, NSW, Australia. Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney's Hospital Westmead Clinical School, Westmead, NSW, Australia. Department of Infectious Diseases, Nepean Hospital, Kingswood, NSW, Australia. Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney's Hospital Westmead Clinical School, Westmead, NSW, Australia. Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney's Hospital Westmead Clinical School, Westmead, NSW, Australia. Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, The Children's Hospital Westmead, Westmead, NSW, Australia. Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia. Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia. National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Westmead, NSW, Australia. Infectious Diseases Serology, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, The Royal Melbourne Hospital at The Doherty Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Westmead, NSW, Australia. Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, New South Wales Pathology, Westmead, Australia. National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Westmead, NSW, Australia. National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Westmead, NSW, Australia. National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Westmead, NSW, Australia. National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Westmead, NSW, Australia. Infection, Immunity & Global Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia. Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccine and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, Nedlands, WA, Australia. Centre for Child Health Research, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia. Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccine and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, Nedlands, WA, Australia. Centre for Child Health Research, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia. Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaid, SA, Australia. Infection Management, Children's Health Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. School of Clinical Medicine, University of Queensland, Herston, QLD, Australia. Global and Tropical Health Division, Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Tiwi, NT, Australia. Department of Paediatrics, Royal Darwin Hospital, Tiwi, NT, Australia. Department of Infection and Immunity, Monash Children's Hospital Melbourne, Clayton, VIC, Australia. Department of Paediatrics, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia. Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick, NSW, Australia. Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick, NSW, Australia. Department of Anaesthesia, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, NSW, Australia. Department of Anaesthesia, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, NSW, Australia. Melbourne Children's Trials Centre, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia. Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine, Perth Children's Hospital, Nedland, WA, Australia. Institute for Paediatric Perioperative Excellence, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia. Department of Anaesthesia, Queensland Children's Hospital, South Brisbane, QLD, Australia. Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland, Herston, QLD, Australia. Department of Children's Anaesthesia, Women's and Children's Hospital, North Adelaide, SA, Australia. Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Royal Darwin Hospital, NT, Australia. Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia. Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia. Serology and Virology Division (SAViD), Department of Microbiology, NSW Health Pathology East, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, NSW, Australia. Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick, NSW, Australia. Surveillance of Adverse Events Following Vaccination In the Community (SAFEVIC), Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia. Department of Infection and Immunity, Monash Children's Hospital Melbourne, Clayton, VIC, Australia. University Department of Paediatrics, Women's and Children's Hospital, North Adelaide, SA, Australia. University Department of Paediatrics, Women's and Children's Hospital, North Adelaide, SA, Australia. Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Telethon Kids Institute, Nedlands, WA, Australia. Department of Paediatrics, Royal Darwin Hospital, Tiwi, NT, Australia. Infectious Diseases Research, Children's Health Queensland, South Brisbane, QLD, Australia. Serology and Virology Division (SAViD), Department of Microbiology, NSW Health Pathology East, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, NSW, Australia. Infectious Diseases Serology, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, The Royal Melbourne Hospital at The Doherty Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Infectious Diseases Serology, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, The Royal Melbourne Hospital at The Doherty Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Infectious Diseases Serology, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, The Royal Melbourne Hospital at The Doherty Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccine and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, Nedlands, WA, Australia. National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Westmead, NSW, Australia. Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney's Hospital Westmead Clinical School, Westmead, NSW, Australia. National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Westmead, NSW, Australia. Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney's Hospital Westmead Clinical School, Westmead, NSW, Australia.
Citation	PLoS One . 2024 Sep 18;19(9):e0300555. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300555. eCollection 2024.
ISSN	1932-6203
OrcId	0000-0002-2567-8825 0000-0002-2993-6000 0000-0001-6585-7150 0000-0002-7532-9316 0000-0002-8685-5389 0000-0002-4675-0232
Pubmed ID	https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39292730/?otool=iaurydwlib
Link	https://hdl.handle.net/10137/13625
Subject
MESH subject	Humans Child Child, Preschool Australia COVID-19 Adolescent Seroepidemiologic Studies Infant Cross-Sectional Studies Female Male SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies, Viral Infant, Newborn Young Adult Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus
Title	The seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies in Australian children: A cross-sectional study.
Type of document	Journal Article
Entity Type	Publication

The seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies in Australian children: A cross-sectional study.

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