Children are as susceptible to Covid-19 as adults

Adults are more than twice as sensitive Coronavirus Mathematical studies were found in comparison with children.

637 households inhabitants Israeli The city of Bnei Brak was inspected for Covid-19 in the first wave of 2020 and the data was entered into a statistical model.

We found that children were as susceptible to Covid-19 infections as they were over 20 years of age, and that children were 37% less infectious.

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It has been repeatedly found that, unlike adults, children are largely unaffected by coronavirus infection throughout the pandemic.

They account for a small proportion of symptomatological cases and even less for hospitalization and death.

For example, as of February 11, 2021, only 34 of the 77,745 Covid-related deaths in hospitals recorded by the NHS England were under the age of 19, accounting for about 0.44 percent.

As of January 29, there were 115,365 deaths associated with Covid-19, 27 of whom were under the age of 19—0.023 percent, according to data separate from the National Bureau of Statistics data.

However, the role of children as carriers of the virus is relatively unclear, and experts are arguing whether the virus can be carried and spread asymptomatically.

Dr. Itai Dattner, lead author of research at the University of Haifa, said: ‘When we started this study, understanding the role of children in infection in relation to the issue of school reopening was a top priority.

“It was exciting to work in a large interdisciplinary team gathered by the Israeli Ministry of Health to tackle this topic quickly.”

Researchers have set out to map the course of the disease to determine how the infection was affected by age.

‘Mostly [Bnei Brak’s] Residents are ultra-Orthodox Jews, with large households and a young population (about 51% under the age of 20), “the researchers wrote in a study published today in PLOS Computational Biology.

“The city of Bnei Brak has the highest per capita infection rate in Israel and was the only city in Israel that was declared a” restricted area “. “

According to a previous study, ultra-Orthodox Jews make up 12% of the country’s population in Israel, but make up two-thirds of all Covid-19 infections.

During the March, April and May 2020 investigations, the city was closed and all members of the house were inspected in the event of a suspicious incident.

A total of 3,353 people living in 637 households were surveyed, and each was wiped by rescue workers an average of 2.5 times.

Although children make up 54% of the household, there were an average of 1.57 infected adults and 0.8 infected children per household.

To further investigate the prevalence of Covid-19, antibody tests were sent to households that met certain criteria.

‘The criteria defined for selecting these households were: up to 4 adult (20+) members, at least 2 members who were negative using PCR, 1 adult , The other is a child (7-19) family preference with at least two members found to be positive using PCR, “the author explains.

A total of 130 households met this list of requirements and underwent serological testing.

Researchers pooled all available data into a mathematical model to track outbreaks at home and see who was infected by people who lived with them.

“We estimated that children’s relative susceptibility was 43 percent,” the researchers write.

“The relative infectivity of children was estimated at 63 percent.”

Researchers also found that children were more likely to receive negative PCR results than adults, despite being actually infected.

Dr. Dattner said: ‘These findings may explain global reports that the proportion of children diagnosed is lower than in adults.

“They can help inform mathematical modeling of Covid-19 dynamics, public health policy, and control measures.”

Future computational studies may investigate infectious dynamics in other environments such as nursing homes and schools.