The rate of coronavirus genetic material detected in the noses of children under five is 10 to 100 times higher than that found in other people, according to one study. Very young children could therefore be major spreaders of the virus.
According to this research published Thursday in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics, researchers in Chicago, between March 23 and April 27, conducted screening tests with nasal swab on 145 patients suffering from a mild to moderate form of the disease. coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19), one week after the onset of their first symptoms.
The patients were divided into three groups: 46 children under five, 51 children aged 5 to 17, and 48 adults between 18 and 65. The team observed the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in amounts ’10 to 100 times greater ‘than others in the airways of young children.
Unlike the health authorities
The authors of the study said that a laboratory study had shown that the more genetic material there was in the virus, the more contagious the virus could become. ‘Therefore, young children can potentially be major contributors to SARS-CoV-2 contagion in the population,’ scientists say.
‘The usual behaviors of young children and the closed spaces in schools and daycares raise the question of a spread of SARS-CoV-2 in this population as health measures become more flexible,’ they concluded.
These results do not agree with health authorities who believe that young children do not transmit the virus much, especially since it has been established that they are less likely to contract a severe form of the disease. However, little research has been done on this topic so far.
Children between 10 and 19 transmit the virus as much as adults in a household, according to a study in South Korea, but children under nine transmit it less.
/ ATS
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