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No one knows exactly what effect the coronavirus has on children, or what role children have played in spreading the infection.
A research group in South Korea has conducted a study in children who for several weeks detected genetic material of the virus in the nose and throat without symptoms.
But they cannot answer if children with genetic material in the respiratory tract are contagious. Nor how much does it take for an infected child without symptoms to infect another person.
The National Institute of Public Health has now started a separate study to gather information on the role of children in spreading the virus.
FHI launches its own investigation
FHI will draw on children with confirmed COVID-19 and their contacts in kindergartens and schools.
– We want to map the role of children in the spread of the virus even better. Especially this with asymptomatic disease, says chief physician Margrethe Greve-Isdahl at FHI.
They should do this by collecting information on exposure, the course of the disease, and collecting clinical material, such as saliva.
The survey started on Monday and will include about 20 children ages 3 to 12 in Oslo and Viken.
– One of the most important things we want to get an answer to is what type of infection is in schools and kindergartens and how well infection control measures work, says Greve-Isdahl.
Askim’s kindergartens and primary schools had to close in mid-August due to the spread of the coronavirus.
Photo: Fredrik Hagen Photo: Fredrik Hagen
Half without symptoms
Among 91 children with COVID-19, 20 of them had no symptoms throughout the study in South Korea.
47 children had no symptoms before the test and 18 of the children had symptoms after the test.
Only six children were tested and infection was detected on the basis of visible symptoms.
In summary, more than half of the children had no symptoms, such as fever, cough, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and loss of taste or smell.
On average, viruses can be detected in children for about 17 days.
The children who participated in the study have been exposed to infections, had symptoms, or had been traveling. In Norway, they would end up in quarantine.
Children usually have mild symptoms
Greve-Isdahl says it appears that children as a whole play a minor role in spreading the infection.
– We know that children with symptoms can infect others, but it happens mainly within the same home, he says.
But it becomes clearer as new research is conducted, that children have mild symptoms.
Some children can become infected without any symptoms.
To effectively spread the infection, you need to sneeze and cough to get the infection to spread around you.
– If you have few symptoms, you will most likely infect less, but we don’t know how contagious a child without symptoms is, says Greve-Isdahl.
If you suspect that your child is infected, the most important thing is that the child stays home. Parents should be tested quickly, and if the child does not improve on their own, they should also be tested.
Photograph: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB Photograph: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB
Probably more infected children than registered
Corona infection is a mandatory reporting obligation and, since the virus broke out in Norway, 178 cases have been recorded in children as young as nine years old. In children from 10 to 19 years old, 706 cases have been registered.
– I think that not all cases of children are registered. Especially at the beginning, we did not have the opportunity to test everyone, but now the capacity has increased, says the superior.
1 in 500 children examined has the coronavirus detected. Often because the children being tested have symptoms or have been around someone who is infected.
