When US schools reopen, children are more concerned about the spread of coronaviruses

(Reuters)-US students are returning online directly to school during a pandemic, and interest in educators and family members can be a risk that children can spread the new coronavirus, a new study Is increasing in the face of.

Several large studies have shown that the vast majority of children with COVID-19, a disease caused by the virus, have milder illnesses than adults. Earlier reports also found no strong evidence that children were the leading cause of the deadly virus that killed more than 780,000 people worldwide.

However, more recent studies are beginning to show how contagious uninfected children are, even in asymptomatic children.

Dr. Alessio Fasano, director of the Center for Mucosal Immunology and Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital and author of the new study, said, “Based on epidemiological data, we believe that from this pandemic, contrary to what we believed We cannot escape.”

Schools across the country are trying a wide range of strategies to resume, from all online classes to face-to-face contact. Leaving the school closed can negatively impact academic progress, social and emotional development, mental health, and food security, so it’s a good idea to take strict mitigation measures before reopening the school. , Ask if it is worth the risk for students, families and educators.

Dr. Fasano and colleagues at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Massachusetts For Children Hospital in Boston have found that infected children have significantly higher viral levels in the respiratory tract than adults admitted to the intensive care unit for COVID-19 treatment. Although most of the participants were 11 to 17 years old, high viral levels were found in infants to young adults.

The study, published Thursday in the Journal of Pediatrics, enrolled 192 participants aged 0-22, who were seen at an emergency treatment clinic suspected of having COVID-19. 49 of them (a quarter of the total) were virus positive. Another 18 cases were included in the study after being diagnosed with a multi-system inflammatory syndrome, a severe COVID-related disease that can develop a few weeks after infection.

Studies suggest that children can carry high viral loads, which means that they can be very contagious, regardless of their susceptibility to developing COVID-19 disease.

“There were some conflicting data out there about the extent to which children could be transmitted,” said Marybeth Sexton, an associate professor of infectious diseases at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta who was not involved in the study. “This is further evidence that children may be considered a source of infection.”

She added that more extensive research is needed.

“Everyone saved.”

Another study published last month at JAMA Pediatrics found that older children hospitalized at COVID-19 have the same level of virus in the upper respiratory tract as adults, but children under 5 carry significantly higher doses. I was out.

However, other medical groups have provided different information about the potential of children to spread the virus. On Wednesday, the American Academy of Pediatrics updated its guidelines to say, “Children under the age of 10 are less likely to become infected and spread, and children older than 10 are more likely to spread as effectively as adults.” There is”.

A recent Korean study found that children under 9 were most likely to be infected with the new coronavirus from members of their household, who are least likely to be the first cases identified.

Most children with coronaviruses had so mild symptoms that they were largely overlooked as demographers in the early stages of the pandemic, Dr. Fasano said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a pediatric COVID-19 hospitalization rate of 8 per 100,000 between March 1 and July 25, compared to 164.5 per 100,000 for adults. I am reporting.

Experts say there is concern over the occurrence of COVID-19 infection, a related problem that may develop after a multisystem inflammatory syndrome. “The number of these patients is increasing,” Dr. Fasano added.

Concerns have also been raised about cases of type 1 diabetes in children diagnosed with COVID-19. A small UK study nearly doubled the incidence of diabetes at the peak of the COVID-19 epidemic in the UK, suggesting a link between the two diseases that needed further investigation.

“The more we understand it, the less one can escape from this pandemic,” Dr. Fasano said.

(Report by Deena Beasley, edited by Peter Henderson and Aurora Ellis)