Does Early Childhood Vaccination Protect Against COVID-19?

Karzan R Sidiq,Rimantas Kodzius,Dana Khdr Sabir,Shakhawan M Ali

doi:10.3389/fmolb.2020.00120

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an on-going pandemic caused by the SARS-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) which targets the respiratory system of humans. The published data show that children, unlike adults, are less susceptible to contracting the disease. This article aims at understanding why children constitute a minor group among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Here, we hypothesize that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine could provide a broad neutralizing antibody against numbers of diseases, including COVID-19. Our hypothesis is based on the 30 amino acid sequence homology between the SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) glycoprotein (PDB: 6VSB) of both the measles virus fusion (F1) glycoprotein (PDB: 5YXW_B) and the rubella virus envelope (E1) glycoprotein (PDB: 4ADG_A). Computational analysis of the homologous region detected the sequence as antigenic epitopes in both measles and rubella. Therefore, we believe that humoral immunity, created through the MMR vaccination, provides children with advantageous protection against COVID-19 as well, however, an experimental analysis is required.

Highlights

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious viral infection of the respiratory system caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)
Despite the low incidence of COVID-19 among children, it appears that the virus mostly affects adults and the elderly, those who have other health problems [Epidemiology Working Group for NCIP Epidemic Response, 2020; Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), 2020; Remuzzi and Remuzz, 2020]
Children and the elderly are two groups of people who are at high risk of contracting infectious illnesses

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious viral infection of the respiratory system caused by SARS-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Detailed data of COVID-19-infected patients from China, Italy, and South Korea have shown that the disease is less common and milder in children younger than 10 years of age (Figure 1) [Carrozzi et al, 2020; Epidemiology Working Group for NCIP Epidemic Response, 2020; Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), 2020; Xu et al, 2020]. In China, only 0.9% of 72,314 infected people were children with a 0% mortality [China, 2020; Epidemiology Working Group for NCIP Epidemic Response, 2020; Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), 2020]. Despite the low incidence of COVID-19 among children, it appears that the virus mostly affects adults and the elderly, those who have other health problems [Epidemiology Working Group for NCIP Epidemic Response, 2020; Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), 2020; Remuzzi and Remuzz, 2020]. We hypothesized that the MMR vaccination might be a reason why children have protection against the disease

CORONAVIRUS PARTICLE

IMMUNITY AND IMMUNIZATION

Findings

DISCUSSION