Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38026391›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in public health2023

Incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children shortly after ending zero-COVID-19 policy in China on December 7, 2022: a cross-sectional, multicenter, seroepidemiological study.

Yi-Hua Zhou, Chenyu Xu, Yue Tao, Meng Gu, Guiping Zhou, Wei Zhou, Yue Jin, Jun Xie, Biyun Xu, Wensan Zhou and 2 more

Open access · goldAbstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in public health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
1.6field-weighted citation impact, top 17% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Changes in children respiratory infections pre and post COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.

Yi-Hua Zhou *Departments of Laboratory Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, and Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Molecular Medicine, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
Chenyu Xu *Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Zhenjiang Fourth People's Hospital, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, China.
Yue Tao *Departments of Laboratory Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, and Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Molecular Medicine, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
Meng GuDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, Affiliated Changzhou Children's Hospital of Nantong University, Changzhou Children's Hospital, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China.
Guiping ZhouDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, Yixing Second People's Hospital, Yixing, Jiangsu, China.
Wei ZhouDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, The First People's Hospital of Changzhou, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China.
Yue JinDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, Huai'an Second People's Hospital and the Affiliated Huai'an Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Huai'an, Jiangsu, China.
Jun XieDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, People's Hospital of Xuyi County, Xuyi, Jiangsu, China.
Biyun XuMedical Statistics and Analysis Center, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
Wensan ZhouDepartments of Laboratory Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, and Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Molecular Medicine, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
Junhao ChenDepartments of Laboratory Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, and Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Molecular Medicine, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
Weifeng ShiDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, The First People's Hospital of Changzhou, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China.
Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital · CNThe First People's Hospital of Changzhou · CNXuzhou Medical College · CNJiangsu University · CNHangzhou Children's Hospital · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: China discontinued the zero-COVID-19 policy on December 7, 2022, and then COVID-19 surged mid-December 2022 through mid-January 2023. However, the actual incidence was unknown. This study aimed to estimate the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children shortly after ending the zero-COVID-19 policy. Methods: This multicenter cross-sectional study included 1,065 children aged 8 months to 12 years from seven hospitals at six regions across Jiangsu province, based on the convenience sampling, from February 10 to March 10, 2023. Group I comprised 324 children aged 8 months-2 years without COVID-19 vaccination, group II consisted of 338 preschool children aged 3-5 years with varied vaccination history, and group III contained 403 primary school children aged 6-12 years with mostly vaccinated. The COVID-19 vaccines were composed of inactivated SARS-CoV-2. In addition, 96 children's sera collected in 2014 were included as negative controls. IgG and IgM antibodies against nucleocapsid (N) and subunit 1 of spike (S1) of SARS-CoV-2 (anti-N/S1) were measured with commercial kits (YHLO Biotech, Shenzhen, China). Results: None of the 96 children (5.1 ± 3.5 years; 58.3% boys) in 2014 was positive for anti-N/S1 IgG or IgM. Of the 1,065 children (5.0 ± 3.5 years; 56.0% boys), 988 (92.8%) were anti-N/S1 IgG positive but none was anti-N/S1 IgM positive. The positive rate of anti-N/S1 IgG in Group I, II, and III was 90.4, 88.5, and 98.3%, respectively, with significantly higher in group III than in groups I and II ( Conclusion: More than 90% children experienced SARS-CoV-2 infection shortly after ending zero-COVID-19 policy in China, much higher than estimated infections by other studies. The widespread SARS-CoV-2 infection in unvaccinated children should be influential on the policy of COVID-19 vaccination in children in the future.

Indexed as

COVID-19ChildChild, PreschoolChinaCOVID-19 VaccinesCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansImmunoglobulin GImmunoglobulin MIncidenceMalePolicySARS-CoV-2Seroepidemiologic StudiesCOVID-19 VaccinesImmunoglobulin GImmunoglobulin Mantibody to SARS-CoV-19childrenCOVID-19 vaccinationdiscontinuation of zero-COVID-19 policyprevalence

Identifiers

PMID38026391
PMCPMC10666904
OpenAlexW4388618002

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.