New study shows coronavirus stays in the throat of asymptomatic children, nose for weeks

Coronaviruses can stay in your child’s nose and throat for a few weeks without showing symptoms, allowing the deadly virus to spread quietly.

Undetected infections in children are probably the cause of silent coronavirus infections in the community. This is what a Korean researcher said in a recent conclusion Investigation “Clinical features and viral RNA detection in Korean children with 2019 coronavirus disease.”

On Friday, researchers reported that the virus could stay in the throat and nose of asymptomatic children for weeks. “In this series of case studies, invisible infections in children may be associated with silent COVID-19 infections in the community,” the researchers said in their study.

With an attendant editorialDr. Roberta Deviasi and Dr. Megan Delaney, two US doctors based at the Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC, have conducted research by Korean researchers on the percentage of infected adults without symptoms.

Delaney and Deviasi were not involved in the new study. “In this study, the authors estimate that 85 infected children (93%) were missed using a testing strategy that focused on testing only symptomatic patients,” said two doctors. Wrote.

Coronavirus child nose Photo: Drug Clinic-Pixabay

Korean researchers examined data from 91 children admitted to 22 hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus infections. The patient was tested every three months and monitored for viral load and symptoms in February and March, CNN Report..

Of 91 infected children, 22% were asymptomatic and 1 in 4 developed symptoms after diagnosis. Some of the people who developed the COVID-19 indicator experienced symptoms only after 25 days. The researchers also found that although coronavirus was positive, 1 in 5 children did not show symptoms of the disease.

All 91 patients carried traces of coronavirus, irrespective of whether they had symptoms, for an average of 17 days, and some patients carried the virus more than about 21 days after their initial diagnosis, the researchers wrote in a study. I will. Among those who experienced signs of illness, researchers observed that symptoms could last from 3 days to 3 weeks, with 10% reporting sickness for more than 3 weeks after diagnosis. In the past, there is little evidence of how long children experience symptoms.

De Beasi and Delaney said the results of the study revealed the need for universal testing of children, and testing only children with symptoms could prevent the virus from moving around in the community and at school. He added that he would miss the asymptomatic children who spread quietly.

Recently, researchers at the Massachusetts Children’s General Hospital Asymptomatic child It may quietly spread and may be more infectious than adult coronavirus patients.

The findings of South Korean researchers underscore the fact that scientists still know very little about coronaviruses, said two US doctors. They say scientists and health professionals alike need to have more data on how the virus affects children and how these children can transmit the infection to others. It was.

“We’re filming in the dark until these studies are done,” wrote De Beersi and Delaney.

A South Korean study was published amid growing criticism after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) changed asymptomatic testing guidelines. In a statement last August 28, the American Academy of Pediatrics called the modified CDC guidelines a “dangerous setback.”

by Updated guidelines“If you have been in contact with a person with a COVID-19 infection for at least 15 minutes (within 6 feet), but are not symptomatic, you do not necessarily need a test unless you are a vulnerable individual or healthy. Public health authorities recommend that you take it.”

A new study published by the Korean researchers in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network adds to the growing evidence of the need to cast wider nets for contact tracking to reduce the spread of the virus. I am.