The ministry's report shows that most children infected with the virus do not show symptoms of the disease - so they may be a source of infection for others. • Most children infected in Israel experienced the disease easily.
According to a report from the Ministry of Health regarding return to school, it appears that children are infected with the coronavirus and other infections, and may even be super-spreaders.
Senior officials from the Ministry of Health and the fight team in Corona presented the results of the serological survey in Bnei Brak // Photo: GPO
The report concludes that “the presence of children in educational settings, especially in a state of widespread morbidity in time and place, may accelerate the spread of the disease from place to place and among a number of different age groups, mainly due to being a source of infection among household members.
The impact can be both in different age groups and in different geographical areas. "
The report is signed by Dr. Sharon Elrai-Price, Head of Public Health Services at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Dina Zimmerman, Director of the Department of Mother and Child, and Dr. Emilia Anis, Director of the Epidemiology Division.
However, they note that "it is important for the education system to return to activity gradually and in accordance with the level of morbidity in different age groups and in different geographical areas."
Data from the Ministry of Health also show that the proportion of children who were found to be positive in all the tests conducted in Israel from the end of January to the end of September is 8%, compared with 6% among adults.
The findings show that morbidity rates are higher in children than in adults.
However, tests are most often done in patients with symptoms of the disease, while most children do not experience symptoms, so the authors of the report estimate that the rate of infected children is even higher.
The result is also supported by the findings of the serological survey in Israel, which found that 7.1% of the children had antibodies to corona, compared with 4.8% -1.7% in the older age group.
The data reveal that 70% -51% of children, depending on the age group, are asymptomatic, and thus actually constitute a repository for infection among other children in particular and among the population in general.
An analysis of the epidemiological investigation data revealed that in 80% of the cases, an adult was the one who infected the children, while in the other reported cases the children were infected from other children.
Analysis of chain chains found that children can also be distributors of: There were 17 cases in which children infected at least 10 people.
The vast majority of children vaccinated against the virus had symptoms of corona disease and experienced it mildly.
Since the outbreak of the plague in Israel, 494 children have been hospitalized for contracting the virus (less than 1% of all children diagnosed), 28 of them were in a serious condition, 31 in a moderate condition and the rest in a mild condition.
194 of the patients were infants up to the age of two years, who were hospitalized due to hospitalization policy as a precautionary measure for this age group.
The epidemiological study reported 1,461 children, which is 2.5% of all children found to be verified, as having some background disease.
According to the report, the most common background diseases are asthma (294 children), chronic lung disease (114 children) and heart disease (69 children).
Another finding that supports teens being the engine that spreads the corona plague is that 7.5% of those coronated are young people aged 15 to 17, even though their share of the population stands at 4.8%.
Further analysis of the data from the beginning of the current school year (September 1) shows that there was a significant increase in the rate of verified both in the ages of the education system and in the adult population, when the education system closed due to the increase in morbidity, indicated a significant decrease in verified infections. And in the general population.
The increase in morbidity was different between different age groups, so with increasing age - the risk of morbidity was higher.
An examination of long-term infection trends shows that in the 17-15 age group, the number of verified has increased 4.5 times since the start of the school year compared to the average of the last two weeks before the start of the school year: in the 14-12 age group the number of verified increased 3.9, in 11-9 year olds the number increased Verified 3.6 times, broadcast similar to ages 8-6 (3.5 times).
In the 5-3 age groups and in the 2-0 group, the number of verified people has increased 2.9 times since the start of the school year, compared to the average of the last two weeks before the start of the school year.
"It can be seen that the opening of the school year, led to an increase in morbidity and closure of the education system, led to a decrease in the positive and isolated rates among children and teachers," the authors of the report noted.
The Teachers' Union said: "Several months ago we warned the officials in the Ministry of Health that there is a lot of infection in kindergartens and schools. Unfortunately, they ignored it. The education system opened too quickly, and we reached a second closure. We hope that this time, following the publication of the report." "The education system will be opened carefully and gradually, with the understanding that children are also contagious."
Participated in the preparation of the article: Noam (Devol) Dvir
