Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has evolved into arguably the largest global public health crisis in recent history—especially in the absence of a safe and effective vaccine or an effective anti-viral treatment. As reported, the virus seems to less commonly infect children and causing less severe symptoms among infected children. This narrative review provides an inclusive view of scientific hypotheses, logical derivation, and early analyses that substantiate or refute such conjectures. At the completion of a relatively less restrictive search of this evolving topic, 13 articles—all published in 2020, were included in this early narrative review. Directional themes arising from the identified literature imply the potential relationship between childhood vaccination and COVID-19—either based on the potential genomic and immunological protective effects of heterologous immunity, or based on observational associations of cross-immunity among vaccines and other prior endemic diseases. Our review suggests that immune response to the SARS-CoV-2 virus in children is different than in adults, resulting in differences in the levels of severity of symptoms and outcomes of the disease in different age groups. Further clinical investigations are warranted of at least three childhood vaccines: BCG, MMR, and HEP-A for their potential protective role against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Highlights
The novel Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected close to 9.5 million people and has claimed nearly 762,000 lives globally, as of August 16, 2020 [1]
Included papers were all published in 2020 following the early release of data on COVID-19, presenting hypotheses about the potential relationship between childhood vaccination and COVID-19—either based on the protective effects of heterologous immunity, or based on observational associations of cross-immunity among vaccines and other prior endemic diseases
Vaccines may have nonspecific physiologic effects when they alter the immune response to unrelated organisms, called heterologous immunity
Summary
The novel Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected close to 9.5 million people and has claimed nearly 762,000 lives globally, as of August 16, 2020 [1]. This pandemic has evolved into arguably the largest global public health crisis in recent history—especially in the absence of a safe and effective vaccine or an effective anti-viral treatment. This virus has demonstrated a high attack rate, a broad gamut of identifiable symptoms, and viability among a potentially massive number of infected silent carriers. On the other hand, have developed symptomatic and more severe COVID-19 [2, 7]
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