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Background The immunologic features of children with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are not clearly delineated. This study was conducted to evaluate SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody responses in children with COVID-19. Methods The levels of anti-spike (S) IgG, anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG, and neutralizing antibody (NAb) were measured during various time points in children Results One hundred sixty-five blood samples from 114 children with COVID-19 (43.9% asymptomatic and 56.1% mildly symptomatic) were analyzed. In both asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic children, the positive rates of anti-S IgG, anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG, and NAb were low within 7 days after onset, but they soon reached 100% 14 to Conclusions These results collectively present the humoral immune responses during SARS-CoV-2 infection in children. A further longitudinal study is needed to thoroughly understand the immune system and for effective vaccine development in children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives The increase in the number of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has delayed real-time reverse transcription–quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), requiring proper shipping and storage conditions, especially in hot weather. This study aims to assess how some conditions, such as storage period, temperature, media or buffer, and sample types, affect the results of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RT-qPCR. Methods SARS-CoV-2–positive specimens were collected from Boramae Medical Center for 2 months (from May to June 2020) and stored in different media or buffers at different temperatures. Results As a result of examining confirmed patient samples, RT-qPCR results were not significantly affected by 2°C to 8°C storage until after 7 days. When stored at 20°C to 22°C or above 35°C, the results were affected negatively even after 1 day. Higher storage temperatures resulted in a lower probability of detecting viral nucleic acids because of degradation. Samples stored in pH-controlled media or buffer were more stable than those stored in nonbuffer states. Conclusions These results emphasize the importance of storage temperature and media or buffer and performing RT-qPCR for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid detection as soon as possible after sample collection.

We report changes in viral load over time in a 27-day-old neonate with coronavirus disease 2019 who presented with fever, cough, and vomiting. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 RNA was detected in the nasopharynx, oropharynx, stool, saliva, plasma, and urine. The highest viral RNA copies in nasopharynx decreased over time while viral load in stool remained high.