12,000 children tested across Bavaria: study reveals high number of unreported corona cases in children

According to a recent study by the Munich Helmholz Center, they have infected more children with the corona virus than previously thought.

They should now be tested more frequently.

• Corona * is more common among children and adolescents than previously thought.

• But only about half of them show symptoms.

• Now the tests in this age group are to be intensified.

Munich

- The

affects all age groups in Germany.

This becomes particularly clear if you look at the results of a current

.

Researchers have found that six times as many children and adolescents are

infected

with

than previously assumed.

Scientists have long suspected that the number of

cases

must be high

.

Corona in children: Helmholz Center carried out large antibody tests

In order to find out how widespread the

is in the youngest population, the

tested

for

against

between April and July

, reports

.

Because compared to the common

, which

can indicate

an acute

, it is possible to

detect

the

with

even after an

overcome

.

Because about one to four weeks after an infection,

form in the

that can be detected several weeks later.

Professor Markus Hippich

and his team have therefore

collected

blood samples from 12,000 children between the ages of 0 and 18 throughout

.

It turned out that 0.87 percent of those tested were

infected

with the

.

Six times more than the Bavarian authorities registered in the age group during this period.

Officially, the

at the end of July in children up to six years of age was 111 per 100,000 inhabitants.

For seven to 18 year olds, they were 182. The study results show, however, that there were 870 infected children per 100,000 inhabitants.

"Our

provides important results that

reveal

the discrepancy between reported

" says

.

Follow the current Corona events in Bavaria in our news ticker.

Corona in children: Half of the children had no symptoms

The reason why the difference between the two

so high is that many children

showed

little or no

.

"

So to get

reliable data on the spread of the

, it is not enough just

to test

for the

itself," says

.

Because so far these tests have mostly only been

carried out

in specific

and people with

.

The

showed that almost half of all children tested behaved asymptomatically.

Half of them had contact with an infected family member.

Therefore, says

, the offspring should also be tested if they have had contact with an infected person - regardless of whether they show

or not.

"That could probably uncover the majority of cases among children, if not all," the scientists said.

List of rubric lists: © Emica Elvedji / dpa