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Researchers at the Icelandic company CODE Genetics in Reykjavik have been able to demonstrate through extensive tests that Children do not participate significantly in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19.
The founder of the company, Kári Stefánsson, and its scientists are experts: the company, founded in 1996, is a leader in the field of human genetics.
No child under the age of 10 infected with a crown
Icelandic researchers evaluated a total of around 13,000 people, of whom 0.6 percent of women and 0.9 percent of men were infected.
There were no cases in children younger than 10 years who tested positive for the novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. In children 10 years and older, it was 0.8 percent.
Children and the risk of infection.
As Kári Stefánsson and her team emphasized, care still needs to be taken when evaluating the current study. It is positive that children are less likely to become infected with the new coronavirus. But that does not mean that they do not present any risk of infection.
However, it seems to be emerging that Children are not an essential multiplier for SARS-CoV-2. The EU health authority, ECDC, also provided figures to support this thesis. Accordingly, children under the age of 10 account for only 1 percent of reported cases of illness.
Germany reflects observation
According to the Robert Koch Institute, 130,450 people in Germany currently suffer from COVID-19. 3,569 fatalities face around 77,000 people recovered (as of April 16, 2020). The demographic distribution of COVID-19 cases in Germany supports Icelandic observations that children are less affected by SARS-CoV-19 than adults.
Although the age group of 15 to 59 years constitutes the largest group among patients with 68 percent (88,317 people), Children under the age of 5 with only 1 percent (1,038 children) and children 5 to 14 years with 2 percent (2,566 children) form the smallest group among reported cases of COVID-19 in Germany.
Sources:
Spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the Icelandic population, at: nejm.org
Clinical aspects (as of March 30, 2020), at: rki.de
RKI daily management report on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) 04/16/2020, at: rki.de
European Center for Disease Prevention and Control COVID-19, at: ecdc.europa.eu
