Publication date: Dec 11, 2025
Effective adaptive immune responses are essential for immune protection against SARS-CoV-2. We investigated the impact of various forms of acquired or iatrogenic immunodeficiency on anti-SARS-CoV-2 humoral and cellular immune responses among children. We analyzed anti-Spike IgG levels, neutralizing activities, and the magnitude and polyfunctionality of anti-Spike T-cell responses in immunocompromised children compared to immunocompetent children, prospectively recruited between June and October 2021, prior to vaccination. We observed marked quantitative and functional alterations in anti-Spike humoral immune response in children with inflammatory bowel diseases treated with anti-TNFα. In children living with HIV and children after kidney transplantation, the production of anti-Spike antibody was conserved but with a decrease of their neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2 strains. Regarding anti-Spike cellular immune response, immunocompetent and immunocompromised children similarly harbored a low anti-Spike response, predominantly displaying a CD4 phenotype, with a preserved CD4 T cell polyfunctionality. The intensity and the nature of the anti-viral immune alterations depend on the type and the degree of the immune impairment. Evaluating the specific host immune actors responsible for maintaining a protective response appears essential to adapt vaccine strategy in these patients, opening the door to new, more personalized vaccination approaches.
| Concepts | Keywords |
|---|---|
| Host | immunocompromised children |
| Immunocompromised | neutralizing antibodies |
| June | SARS-CoV-2 |
| New | |
| October |
Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| disease | MESH | inflammatory bowel diseases |
| disease | MESH | strains |