In a new study by the Berlin Charité , led by virologist Christian Drosten, it was examined whether children and adolescents are just as contagious as adults if they are infected with corona viruses. In fact, there are just as many viruses in the throat of children and adolescents as there are in adults. This suggests that children are in fact just as contagious as adults. For the study, 3712 samples from patients who tested positive for corona viruses were examined and evaluated. Among them were 37 children of kindergarten age, 16 elementary school students and 74 teenagers.
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Corona infections: the number of unreported cases is higher in children
However, most children show no or only mild symptoms . In adults, on the other hand, a good half of those infected show symptoms such as coughing, shortness of breath and fever. This makes the examination of children particularly difficult: many infections are probably not recognized and examined at all. Officially, according to the Robert Koch Institute, children only make up about three percent of those infected with corona. However, a higher number of unreported cases is suspected.
Nevertheless, the scientists largely agree that, despite the number of unreported cases, significantly fewer children are infected than adults. This is solely due to the fact that children have lived much more isolated than adults in the recent past. They were therefore less exposed to the risk of infection when going to work or when shopping.
Influence of children on corona infection hardly measurable
Whether children are just as contagious as adults can only be guessed at due to the sparse data available. On the one hand, an infected child runs less risk of infecting other people, since frequent sneezing and coughing as symptoms often disappear. On the other hand, small children are less able to implement hygiene measures and touch their faces more often. Virologist Christian Drosten considers it possible in principle that children and adults could be equally contagious.
How big the influence of children on the spread of Covid-19 really is is difficult to measure at the moment, since children have very little contact. The real consequences will only become apparent once kindergartens and schools have been open again for a while.
Corona: symptoms in children
What is certain is that children show symptoms much less frequently as soon as they contract Covid-19. The course of Covid-19 is milder overall – if noticeable at all!
Instead of the classic respiratory problems, it has often been observed that infected children suffer from gastrointestinal problems . This could be because children have more ACE2 receptors in their gut to which Sars-CoV-2 docks, while adults have it the other way around. However, this is only an assumption that has not yet been scientifically confirmed.
