Covid-19 in children
Research evidence summaries
The consensus for some time in the scientific community has been that children are not the vectors for COVID-19. It is also accepted that children are not significantly at risk from the effects of the virus.
Pediatrician and researcher Dr. Alistair Munro has compiled a summary of the studies from around the world. These echo evidence summaries from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and which have found the risk of the virus to and from children to be low.
COVID-19 - research evidence
A summary of key current evidence regarding COVID-19 in children and young people.
Covid-19 in children
There is growing evidence that children themselves are comparatively resistant to carriage and transmission.
Risk Factors for Pediatric Patients
The epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 paediatric patients aged <18 years in Italy.
Covid-19
Transmission from children
The role children play in transmitting the Covid-19 virus is still unclear, however current evidence demonstrates that children are less likely to become infected, and less likely to infect other family members in the household.
No evidence of transmission from a pupil to a teacher
Several countries specifically said that they had no indication that school settings played a significant role in the transmission of COVID-19. Secondary transmission in schools, either from child-to-child or from child-to-adult, was perceived to be rare.
Children, school and COVID-19
Worldwide, relatively few children have been reported with COVID-19. The virus is mainly spread between adults and from adult family members to children. The spread of COVID-19 among children or from children to adults is less common.
COVID-19 Transmission and Children: The Child Is Not to Blame
SARS-CoV-2 transmission in schools may be less important in community transmission than initially feared. This would be another manner by which SARS-CoV-2 differs drastically from influenza.
Children are unlikely to have been the primary source of household infections
The data available to date suggests that children have not played a substantive role in the intra-household transmission.
Practically no spread of infection on campus at the start of the semester
It is evident that the prevalence of COVID-19 among students and staff at Campus Umeå was very low at the start of the semester.
Study finds very low numbers of COVID-19 outbreaks in schools
SARS-CoV-2 infections and outbreaks were uncommon in educational settings during the first month after the easing of national lockdown in England.
Children ‘very minor players’ in Covid-19 transmission, leading expert says ahead of schools reopening.
Evening Standard, 10/08/2020
Coronavirus: Little evidence of Covid transmission in schools, says Williamson.
BBC News, 10/08/2020
School coronavirus outbreaks 'exception not the norm', first major study across Europe finds.
The Telegraph, 09/08/2020
Schools are not a major driver of transmission of Covid-19 - ECDC report.
Independent.ie, 07/08/2020