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People under 20 are "half as likely" to get coronavirus, new study reveals

2020-06-18T06:37:07.686Z


It is estimated that children and adolescents are approximately half as likely to get coronavirus than those over 20, according to new research published this Mars ...


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Would children under the age of 10 be immune to the coronavirus? 5:09

(CNN) –– It is estimated that children and adolescents are approximately half as likely to get coronavirus as those over the age of 20, according to new research published Tuesday.

The study, conducted by epidemiologists at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and published in the journal Nature Medicine , used transmission models to calculate disease susceptibility and the relationship of age to cases.

  • READ: What is the rare disease of children associated with the new coronavirus?

The researchers estimate that the clinical symptoms of covid-19 manifest in about 21% of those ages 10-19. This estimate increases about 69% in people age 70 and older.

After analyzing epidemic data in China, Japan, Italy, Singapore, Canada and South Korea, the researchers indicated that children may be less susceptible to contracting the coronavirus from contact with an infected person and may experience a less serious illness.

There are still many unknowns about covid-19, but the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (CDC) have indicated that while some children have contracted the virus, adults account for the majority of known cases to date.

According to the CDC, children diagnosed with coronavirus in the United States generally have mild cases of the virus.

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Schools around the world have closed to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. According to UNESCO estimates, more than 1.5 billion students, or more than 90% of students globally, have been in their homes due to school suspension in approximately 190 countries.

Now, as confinements begin to decrease around the world, governments and experts are trying to explore how - and when - children can return to their classrooms.

The study authors noted that more research is needed on transmission caused by asymptomatic infections. However, they explained that interventions to curb contagion directed at children could have a relatively small impact, especially if transmission by asymptomatic infections is low.

"Direct evidence of reduced susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 in children has been mixed, but if true it could result in lower transmission in the general population," the study noted.

  • READ: CDC Warns US Doctors on childhood disease related to covid-19

Countries with a lower average population age may have fewer cases of covid-19 per capita, according to the study.

"If the number of infections or cases is highly dependent on the role of children, countries with different age distributions could exhibit very different epidemic profiles and a substantially different overall impact of the epidemic," the study warned.

Mark Woolhouse, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, said the researchers found that children and teens were less susceptible to infection and less likely to show symptoms if they were infected. However, the authors were unable to determine if the youth were also less infectious, he said.

"This makes it difficult to accurately assess the impact of school closings on the broader extent of covid-19," Woolhouse, who was not involved in the research, told the Science Media Center.

Using the mathematical model, the authors show that even under the most pessimistic assumption that youth are fully infectious, school closings could have a substantially smaller impact on the epidemic than they would have for influenza-like infections. "He added.

Contagiocovid-19 Infection Young Children Children Pandemic

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2020-06-18

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