Children play only a limited role in the spread of the coronavirus, researchers at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) conclude.
Adults, in particular, transmit the virus, the researchers say. They studied 54 families of which at least one family member was infected with the coronavirus, RIVM tells NU.nl.
The scientists published the study in the Dutch Journal of Medicine. Children can get sick from the virus, but the complaints often turn out to be very mild, the study shows. They also get infected with the virus, but less often.
Of all the families, none were where a child under the age of twelve was the first patient and thus infected the rest of the family.
The results are in line with the conclusions of similar studies abroad, says the RIVM. Scientists observed similar trends in China and South Korea, among others.
This is the first part of the research
The more than fifty families were approached by the GGD and often belonged to healthcare workers who were infected with the coronavirus.
A total of 239 individuals from the families participated in the study, 109 of whom were children. The families were approached through the GGD Utrecht.
This is the first part of the investigation that RIVM has initiated into this subject. In the second phase, the researchers will study the spread of the virus in fifty new families.
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