Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 among children and adolescents in Germany-an overview

SARS-CoV‑2 serologic studies complement and expand findings from confirmed COVID-19 cases through identification of undetected cases. This article summarizes previous results on SARS-CoV‑2 prevalence from seroepidemiological studies in Germany focusing on children and adolescents and complements the already existing overview on seroprevalence in adults from general population samples and especially blood donors in Germany. The results are based on an ongoing systematic search in study registries, in literature databases, of preprint publications, and of media reports of seroepidemiological studies in Germany and their results. As of 17 September 2021, we are aware of 16 German seroepidemiological studies focusing on children and adolescents. Results are available for nine of these studies. For almost all settings studied, SARS-CoV‑2 seroprevalence was well below 1% for preschool and elementary school children in the first COVID-19 wave and below 2% for adolescents. As the pandemic progressed, higher seroprevalences of up to 8% were found in elementary school children. Results of SARS-CoV‑2 antibody studies in children and adolescents in Germany are scarce so far and are based on non-representative samples at local or regional level. In future studies, it is necessary on the one hand to estimate which proportion of children and adolescents has already either had an infection or has been vaccinated. On the other hand, it is important to investigate physical and mental health impairments that occur after an infection.