Younger children may be more likely to spread the coronavirus to older children children, Based on the results of a new pediatric study.
The research was published in JAMA Journal of Pediatrics According to reports, Monday Miami herald, Indicating that children three years and younger may be more likely to spread the virus to their siblings or caregivers than older children in the family.
The study surveyed 6,280 Canadian households with Coronavirus The case appeared in people under 18 years of age. Here, researchers measured how many family members contracted the virus from children from June 2020 to December 2020.
The results of the study indicate that babies and toddlers are most likely to transmit the virus to others in the family, even though they only accounted for 12% of the first batch of cases or what the researchers referred to as “index cases” during the study.
Children between 4 and 8 years old are considered the second most infectious group, followed by children between 9 and 13 years old
However, the study did not show that children are more contagious than adults.
The researchers of the study stated in their conclusions: “As the number of pediatric cases worldwide increases, the role of children in family transmission will continue to grow. We found that younger children compared to older children It may be easier to spread SARS-CoV-2 infection, and it has been observed that children between the ages of 0 and 3 have the highest transmission rate.
They continued: “Although children do not seem to transmit infections as often as adults, caregivers should be aware of the risk of transmission when caring for sick children in the home environment. Because social isolation from sick children is challenging and often It’s impossible, so caregivers should take other infection control measures where feasible, such as using masks, increasing the frequency of hand washing, and being separated from siblings.”
With the surge in COVID-19 cases among children across the United States, and news that children are more likely to spread the virus, School closures As the courses of the fall semester began, thousands of Students who have been quarantined.
According to the Miami Herald, some studies have shown that one reason for the increased infectivity may be that the viral load (the amount of virus in the human upper respiratory tract) found in children is higher than that in adults.
June 2020 learn According to news media reports, the amount of virus in the nasal cavity of children under five is 100 times that of older children and adults, indicating that they may contribute to the spread of the virus.
Other signs that can promote infection among children are that they are unlikely to show symptoms of the virus, so their caregivers may not know when they contracted COVID. In addition, young children need close contact for care, which can spread the virus more easily.
“In some ways, this is the opposite of what we have been told in the past,” Dr. Edith Bracho Sanchez, a primary care pediatrician and assistant professor of pediatrics at Columbia University Irvine Medical Center in New York, told ABC News.
“This just shows that when it comes to children and this virus, we must remain humble. We have always known that children can be infected, spread and possibly contract COVID. I think we are becoming more and more aware of how much there is,” she added. .
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