The report by Messiah et al in this issue of Pediatrics provides useful data on the duration of the nucleocapsid antibody response in children after SARS-CoV-2 infection.1 As our current SARS-CoV-2 vaccines elicit antibodies to the spike protein, antibodies to the nucleocapsid represent past infection, rather than vaccine response. The authors found that, in this cohort of 218 children, approximately 45% had antibodies to the nucleocapsid protein during the time that the predominant circulating variants were Alpha and Delta. The frequency of nucleocapsid antibody detection was no different by age, body habitus, or severity of infection. Over 95% of children who had positive nucleocapsid antibodies at the onset of the study still had detectable antibodies at least 6 months later. This study, in which enrollment began before vaccinations were available to children and ended prior to Omicron becoming the predominant circulating variant, provides some reassuring data regarding the durability of the response.Copyright © 2022 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
