SARS Antibody Testing in Children: Development of Oral Fluid Assays for IgG Measurements

  1. Katja Hoschler
  2. Samreen Ijaz
  3. Nick Andrews
  4. Sammy Ho
  5. Steve Dicks
  6. Keerthana Jegatheesan
  7. John Poh
  8. Lenesha Warrener
  9. Thivya Kankeyan
  10. Frances Baawuah
  11. Joanne Beckmann
  12. Ifeanichukwu O. Okike
  13. Shazaad Ahmad
  14. Joanna Garstang
  15. Andrew J. Brent
  16. Bernadette Brent
  17. Felicity Aiano
  18. Kevin E. Brown
  19. Mary E. Ramsay
  20. David Brown
  21. John V. Parry
  22. Shamez N. Ladhani
  23. Maria Zambon

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Abstract

We report on the first large-scale assessment of the suitability of oral fluids for detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibody obtained from healthy children attending school. The sample type (gingiva-crevicular fluid, which is a transudate of blood but is not saliva) can be self collected.

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  1. Version published to 10.1128/spectrum.00786-21
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.07.07.21260121: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    EthicsIRB: This is in accordance with the revised guidance in the Governance Arrangements for Research Ethics Committees (GAfREC) that was released in September 2011.
    Consent: Recruitment and Sample collection: Headteachers in participating primary schools sent the study information pack to parents and staff at the start of the study and those interested in taking part were asked to sign a consent form and complete a short questionnaire.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody concentrations in oral fluid were measured using the IgG Human SimpleStep ELISA Kit (Abcam ab195215) according to the manufacturer’s instruction.
    SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody concentrations
    suggested: None
    SARS-CoV-2 IgG
    suggested: None
    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Statistical analysis: Sensitivity and Specificity relative to the Abbott testing on serum was calculated with 95% exact confidence intervals.
    Abbott
    suggested: (Abbott, RRID:SCR_010477)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    A limitation of using a single antigen assay, however, is that antibody kinetics may vary over time. Following mild SARS-CoV-2 infection, for example, serum nucleoprotein antibodies decline more rapidly than spike protein antibodies (19), but this may differ for severe illness and may be also dependent on the assays used (30). Additionally, little is known about antibody kinetics in children, which may differ over time since infection. It is, therefore, possible that exclusive use of the NP capture assay may need to be re-evaluated in future, when antibody from naturally acquired infection starts to wane. Since current vaccines induce spike protein antibodies, inclusion of a spike protein antibody assay would allow distinction between antibodies induced following natural infection and/or vaccination, especially in the context of discussions around vaccination of children. We will continue to evaluate and re-assess the selected assay with longitudinal oral fluids and serum samples collected from in children and adult individuals with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  3. Version published to 10.1101/2021.07.07.21260121v1 on medRxiv