In comparison with adults, children have a lower COVID-19 infection rate. Recent research suggested that that is resulting from the liner of their noses, which helps inhibit infection and replication of the virus.

It’s generally known that SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, is milder in children than adults in relation to symptoms. Moreover, children looked as if it would have a lower infection rate.

But for the longest time, the aspects that drove this pediatric resistance were unknown, with previous studies only suggesting a number of theories why COVID severity seemed to rise with age.

A recent study published Monday within the open access journal PLOS Biology suggested that children’s nasal epithelium (lining of the nose) helped inhibit infection and replication of the unique SARS-CoV-2 virus and the delta variant. But the identical can’t be said for the omicron variant.

The researchers wanted to grasp lower infection and replication of ancestral SARS-CoV-2 virus in children, in order that they obtained samples of primary nasal epithelium cells (NEC) from 23 healthy children aged 2-11 and 15 healthy adults aged 19-66 in Australia. The researchers exposed the cells of adults and kids to SARS-CoV-2 before observing the infection kinetics and antiviral responses.

The researchers observed that ancestral SARS-CoV-2 replicated less efficiently within the NEC of youngsters, on top of being related to a heightened antiviral response. The identical lower viral replication was observed with the delta variant but not the newer omicron variant.

The researchers noted that their study did have limitations, akin to having a small sample size. Pediatric protection from emerging variants has yet to be qualified, and futural clinical studies are needed to validate the findings.

“We now have provided the primary experimental evidence that the pediatric nasal epithelium may play a crucial role in reducing the susceptibility of youngsters to SARS-CoV-2. The info strongly suggest that the nasal epithelium of youngsters is distinct and that it could afford children some level of protection from ancestral SARS-CoV-2,” wrote principal writer Kirsty In need of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.