Children may play a greater role in COVID transmission than originally thought

Over the weekend, the World Health Organization announced that you may have missed it.

Recommended Children over the age of 12 must wear a mask, And that mask should be considered for those aged 6-11. The German Virology Society goes further, Every child in school wears a mask..

This is inconsistent with what we assumed about children and COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic. Indeed, one of the good things about this pandemic so far is that a virus-infected child usually experiences. Mild.. Most children do not need hospitalization and few die of the disease. However, some children Severe inflammatory syndrome Similar to Kawasaki disease, but thankfully rare.

This generally calm situation contributes to the overlooked child case. However, new evidence suggests that children may play a greater role in transmission than originally thought. Based on the amount of viral genetic material found in swabs, they may be as infectious as adults, and we have seen the emergence of large school clusters in Australia and around the world.

How likely is a child to become infected?

It was difficult to figure out how vulnerable children are doing. Preventive school closures in many countries have eliminated the opportunity for the virus to circulate in younger age groups. Children also failed the test because they usually have mild symptoms. In Australia, test standards were initially very restrictive. People had to have a fever or cough to be tested, not always a child has. This hampered our ability to detect cases in children and created the perception that children are generally not infected.

One way to deal with this problem is with antibody tests that can detect evidence of past infections. Ah Over 60,000 studies in Spain It was found that 3.4 percent of children and teenagers had antibodies to the virus, compared to 4.4 to 6.0 percent of adults. However, Spanish schools may also be closed, reducing exposure to children.

Another way is to see what happens to people living in the same household as in the known case. The results of these studies are mixed. Some suggested Low risk For children, while others suggest that there are children and adults Equality risk..

Children may have some degree of protection compared to adults because they have Low in enzymes It is used by viruses to enter the body. Therefore, given the same brief exposure, children may be less likely to be infected than adults. But with prolonged contact, such benefits probably disappear.

How children and adults interact at home may explain the differences seen in some studies. this is New research Conducted by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Known cases of children and partners were more likely to be infected than other people living in the same house. This suggests that the amount of close and long-term contact may ultimately be the determinant.

How often do children get the virus?

A few the study Indicates that children and adults have the same amount of viral RNA in their noses and throats. This suggests that children and adults are equally infected, but in reality children may be infected with the virus slightly less often than adults. Children are physically small and generally mild, which can lead to low viral shedding.

In Italy, researchers looked at what happened to people who were in contact with infected children, Highly likely to be infected From contact with the virus and adults.

Teenagers are, of course, more like adults, and younger children may be less likely to get the virus than older children. However, reports of outbreaks Nursery school And primary school Suggests that there are still risks.

What did we see at school?

Large clusters Reported at school All over the world, especially Israel.. So the outbreak in high school affected at least 153 students, 25 staff, and 87. Interestingly, that particular outbreak was in line with the extreme heat waves that exempted students from wearing face masks and continued use of the air conditioners.

At first glance, Australian experience seems to suggest a small role for children in the transmission. Ah Investigation There was limited evidence of COVID-19 infections in New South Wales educational settings earlier this year, but a large outbreak in daycare has been reported.

While this may seem encouraging, it is important to remember that the vast majority of Australian cases were acquired abroad at the time of the survey, limiting local transmission. The school also switched to distance learning during the survey, after which school attendance dropped to 5%. This suggests that school safety depends on the level of infection in the community.

In addition, there is no need to rest assured that the children have not transmitted the virus to others. about 80% of secondary cases of COVID-19 occur in only 10% of people.. There are many cases where adults have not been infected with the virus.

Schools are becoming increasingly important as community infections in Victoria grow. The outbreak of the Altaqua University remains one of Australia’s largest clusters. The important thing was the occurrence Link to other clusters in Melbourne, Including a large outbreak on the city’s public housing tower.

Close schools when community infection rates are high

This evidence means that a precautionary approach should be taken. Face-to-face instruction is probably less risky when there is less infection in the community. However, schools should switch to distance learning during persistent infections in their communities. If they are unable to address the risk of outbreaks at school, they can spread to a wider community.

Most children will not be infected with the virus, but the same cannot be said for adult families and teachers. In the United States, 40% of teachers have severe COVID-19 risk factorsSo do the 28.6 million adults who live with school-age children.

Recent recommendations for wearing masks old And Young children mirror School risk reduction guidelines Developed by Harvard TH Chan Public Health School. These guidelines emphasize the importance of face masks, improved ventilation, and regular disinfection of shared surfaces.

Changing landscape

As the virus became more widespread, the demographic profile of cases changed. The virus is no longer restricted to adult travelers and their contacts, and children are now commonly infected. In Germany, the proportion of children in the number of new infections is now Matches the percentage of the total population..

Fortunately children are far less likely to be severely ill than adults, but we need to consider who they are in contact with and how they can contribute to the infection of the community. .. Otherwise, you will not be able to control the pandemic.

Hyde Zoe, Senior Research Officer, University of Western Australia

This article is reissued from conversation Under Creative Commons license. Read Original work..