COVID-19: Can Children Pass The Coronavirus To Adults?

Thursday, May 7, 2020, 23:59

As of today, there are 3,856,794 coronavirus cases with 266,488 deaths. On a hopeful note, 1,317,978 have recovered. In India, there are 53,045 confirmed cases, 1,787 deaths and 15,331 recovery cases [1].

Researchers and health experts are ardently focused on studying the novel coronavirus, where new findings and understanding help in the better management of the diseases, and also pave way for a possible effective vaccine.

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By focusing on the reported symptoms and risk factors, researchers are carrying out symptoms related studies, where factors such as obesity, smoking, diabetes, air pollution etc. have been explored [2]. And one of the most focused topics was how covid-19 affected children.

How Does Coronavirus Affect Children?

Health experts and scientists have been studying the degree to which the virus affects children compared to adults [3]. There are far fewer cases of the virus reported in children, where most of the kids contracted the infection from someone they lived with. The Sars-Cov-2 virus usually causes a milder infection in children than in adults or older people [4].

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According to a recent report, while children can contract Covid-19, they are less likely than adults to become seriously ill [5]. The study stated, "The evidence to date suggests that although children do develop Covid-19, very few children develop severe symptoms, even if they have an underlying health condition" [6].

But, Can Children Pass Coronavirus To Adults?

A recent study explored and analysed the existing research into the effects of Covid-19 on children. The research study pointed out that a joint commission by China and the World Health Organisation (WHO) "could not recall episodes during contact tracing where transmission occurred from a child to an adult" [7].

The role of children in the transmission is unclear, but it seems likely they do not play a significant role. As per the reports, children have a lower attack rate than adults and are less likely to acquire it from a household contact than adults are.

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In addition to this, the researchers also pointed out that children are less often the people bringing coronavirus infection into the household than adults and added that there has been limited research exploring this topic [8].

The evidence of the study declares that children can be asymptomatic, but that is something that has been reported in adults as well [9].The researchers also used the sample of a study published in Germany, which gathered the understanding that children with Covid-19 may be as infectious as adults [10].

Another study used by the researchers were of the one published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases of a child who displayed mild symptoms of the virus. Although the child came in contact with 172 people, he reportedly did not infect anyone [11].

On A Final Note…

Researchers point out that more studies have to be carried out to gather a clearer understanding, considering the daily developments and findings related to the coronavirus. They reached the open conclusion that children probably transmit Covid-19 less than adults and it is essential to gather a lot more data before taking a step towards easing the lockdown.