Young people often do not get sick themselves, but do spread the virus. “Then they have no symptoms or they have a little cold or a mild headache and just go on with their lives. But it is in those first days that you are most contagious.”
Cevik believes that communication about the risks of the virus and the measures should be much clearer, especially towards young people. “For example, if you have minimal complaints, you really should be quarantined and not allowed to go to parties if you have even the slightest symptoms. It would also be good to reduce the number of contacts. But get all that done with young people.”
Figures from different countries about which age groups are most likely to be infected this summer show the same picture everywhere: these are mainly older teenagers and young adults. In the latest Dutch figures does 28 percent of infections occurred in the 15-29 age group.
New studies
In recent weeks, several studies have appeared that suggest that young children may also play a greater role in the spread of the virus than previously assumed. But those studies have significant limitations.
In a study not yet peer-reviewed Italian researchers conclude that infected children pass on the coronavirus relatively often. Children under 15 are said to infect about 22 percent of their contacts, especially within their own families. This was significantly lower in adults.
But those who were infected by a child became less ill than those who contracted the virus from an adult. And of the 2800 confirmed covid-19 cases in the study, only 14 were under 15. “Those numbers are so small that this study is inconclusive about the role of children in the spread of the virus,” says Bert Niesters. head of clinical virology at the UMCG.
Genetic material
From investigation in late July JAMA Pediatrics shows that the noses of children under 5 contain much more genetic material from the coronavirus than in older children and adults. According to the authors, earlier research shows that this results in a higher infectivity.
“These results do not say anything about the contagiousness of children,” says Niesters. “It is not too bad for the youngest children. Their contribution to the spread seems small,” he points out RIVM research from. But it gets tricky with the oldest kids in high school. “
Korean study
In July a large South Korean study that teens infect just under 20 percent of their roommates with SARS-CoV-2. Only people in their twenties and fifties did that more often. But here too, there are relatively few children in the study. Of the more than 5,700 covid-19 cases, 124 occurred in children between the ages of 10 and 20.
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