In a pleasant suburb just outside Nashville, a young family swings their noses twice a month in a DIY study looking for answers to some of the most pressing questions about the coronavirus.
How many American children and teens are infected? How many infected children have no symptoms? How likely are they to spread it to other children and adults?
“The last point is that we simply do not yet know to what extent children can transmit the virus,” said Dr. Tina Hartert of Vanderbilt University, who is leading the government-funded study.
Evidence from the US, China and Europe shows that children are less likely to become infected with the virus than adults and also less likely to become seriously ill when they become ill. There are also data which suggest that young children do not spread the virus very often, but that children aged 10 and over can spread it just as easily as adults. The new study aims to find more solid evidence.
“If we do not see significant transfer within households, that would be very satisfactory,” Hartert said.
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Some 2,000 families in 11 U.S. cities are enrolled in the DIY experiment, drawn from participants in previous government research. In all, those are 6,000 people. They have no personal contact with researchers. Test items are mailed to their homes.
They collect their own nasal swabs for COVID-19 tests, and less often blood and stool samples. The copies will be mailed to the organizers of the study. Participants receive text messages asking about symptoms and reminding them to test and they fill out questionnaires.
The study could help determine the safety of classroom education during the pandemic. But results are not expected before the end of the year.
For Mendy and Joe McNulty and their two youngest sons in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, nasal swabbing at home is a family affair. Test items are distributed on a carefully soiled kitchen counter, where the four gather to perform what has become a ritual. Mendy McNulty helps the boys with their swabbing.
“We were excited to feel we could contribute in some way,” she said, explaining why the family chose to participate. “This virus is so unknown. Every little bit that we can feel we did something to help. ”
It is difficult to find the exact number of COVID-19 cases in children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says at least 175,000 cases have been confirmed in those aged 17 and under, and make up less than 10% of all confirmed cases. But the true number is probably much higher because many children have silent infections when only vague symptoms and are not tested.
Data on childhood and coronavirus spread are also expensive. Hundreds of infections have been reported in children and staff at U.S. day care centers, but whether children or adults were the main spreaders is not known.
The family study also examines whether children with asthma or allergies may have some protection against COVID-19. Anecdotal evidence suggests that they may be, but “we do not know what the mechanism of that may be,” said Drs. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The institute pays for the research.
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As a mother, former schoolteacher and scientist, Hartert is anxious to help fill in the gaps. She acknowledges that it is possible that none of the families will be infected, but given the number of COVID-19 cases around the country, she says it is highly unlikely.
Mendy McNulty says her family has remained healthy so far. She and her husband are both 39 and do not feel worried about getting infected.
She is interested in what happens when her children return to school in mid-August – two classrooms days a week with masks and social distance, three days online.
“Schools are in each other like little petri dishes,” said McNulty, also a former teacher.
“I am ready to bring everyone home” if outbreaks occur, she said.
The boys – 7-year-old Andrew and 9-year-old Hudson – were excited to take part in the study, McNulte said. She helps her to swipe her nose, and they both say it does not really hurt.
“Sometimes it tickles,” Andrew said. Other times, “it feels like she’s taking it super far.”
Dr David Kimberlin says he and other infectious disease specialists have been waiting for the kind of data the study will provide.
“In general, the virus behaves differently in children than adults,” said Kimberlin, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “Why is that? We just need to know so much more.”
