COVID-19: Children play larger role in community spread, says study

A study released on August 20 and posted in the Journal of Pediatric shows that children play a larger role in the community spread of the novel coronavirus than previously thought. As a part of the study, 49 out of 192 children tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and 18 others showed illness related to the novel coronavirus. The children were aged between 0-22.

Children's role in COVID transmission

According to the study, the infected children had more virus in their airways than adults who were hospitalised in ICUs for Covid-19 treatment. The objective of the study reads, “As schools plan for re-opening, debates around the role children play in the COVID-19 pandemic persist. Concerns have been raised as to whether allowing children to congregate in the classroom will fuel the spread of the pandemic. On an individual level, families are worried how SARS-CoV-2 infection could affect their children and family. Particular concern is elevated for families belonging to low socio-economic classes, where the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection is higher, and where multi-generational cohabitation is the norm, increasing the risk of transmitting the infection to vulnerable grandparents and older adults”. 

Read: Study: HCQ Is Ineffective As Preventive Antiviral Against Coronavirus

The study suggests that transmissibility increases with a high viral load. Also, children who show symptoms of the novel coronavirus might not necessarily have it as at times, they often overlap with common childhood illnesses like influenza. Lael Yonker, the author of the study from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in the US said that, "I was surprised by the high levels of virus we found in children of all ages, especially in the first two days of infection. I was not expecting the viral load to be so high. You think of a hospital, and of all of the precautions taken to treat severely ill adults, but the viral loads of these hospitalised patients are significantly lower than a 'healthy child' who is walking around with a high SARS-CoV-2 viral load”. 

Read: Fossil Of 13-ft-long Marine Predator Found Inside Larger Animal: Study

Apart from this, the test also examined the expression of the viral receptor and antibody response in healthy children. According to the study, while children with the novel coronavirus might not become seriously ill like adults, they can spread infection and bring the virus into their homes as asymptomatic carriers or carriers with few symptoms attending school. Study author Alessio Fasano from MGH said that, "During this Covid-19 pandemic, we have mainly screened symptomatic subjects, so we have reached the erroneous conclusion that the vast majority of people infected are adults”. He added, "However, our results show that kids are not protected against this virus. We should not discount children as potential spreaders for this virus”. 

Read: Greenland Ice Sheet Melted At Record Rate In 2019 Due To Spike In Emissions: Study

Also Read: Greenland Ice Sheets Have Suffered Irreversible Damage Due To Climate Change: Study

(Image Credits: Unsplash)