Children produce more antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 because they have not yet developed adaptive immunity. Pavel Volchkov, head of the MIPT Genomic Engineering Laboratory, spoke about this.

“In fact, it’s like an unoccupied niche, empty,” says Volchkov. - Some kind of infection appears, and all those B-cells, T-cells, which one way or another can respond to it, are activated. B cells begin to secrete antigen-dependent antibodies. Since they have no one to compete with for a niche yet—but there are effects of B cells competing with each other—they can afford almost everything and stay. And the likelihood that different clones will remain is very high. And gradually, with each new infection, competition increases.”

Very young, newborn children do not have antibodies other than those received from the mother, the expert explains. A certain amount of maternal antibodies crosses the placenta, some comes with milk. However, the infant does not have its own adaptive immunity.

Thus, in newborns and young children, there is a high probability of leaving a larger amount of memory cells, while in adults it is much less, concludes Volchkov. In addition, children have a higher potential for more B and T cell clones in general.

Earlier, German scientists from the Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf found that in children who had recovered from COVID-19, the production of antibodies continues up to nine months after the onset of the first symptoms, and the concentration of antibodies in the blood serum exceeds the level of antibodies in adults. The study was published on the medRxiv preprint service.

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