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Child becomes infected with coronavirus, puzzles researchers
The | Reading time: 2 minutes.
“Call the symptoms”: motorway sign at a French ski resort
Credit: pa / dpa / Pierre Teyssot
A nine-year-old boy became infected with the corona virus in France and then participated in several ski courses. He was in contact with at least 172 people, without infecting any of them. What does that mean?
DThe case of a nine-year-old French boy who did not infect anyone despite a coronavirus infection is a scientific concern: According to a study recently published in the American journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, tests for coronavirus were negative for the 172 contacts in the boy. According to the researchers, the case could suggest that children do not play an important role in the spread of Sars-Cov-2.
The nine-year-old boy had contracted the coronavirus in the Haute-Savoie region of eastern France, and had taken three ski courses without knowing his infection. Health authorities later identified 172 people who had come into contact with the boy during the incubation period. Corona virus tests on all contact persons were negative. The boy had not infected even his own siblings.
However, seasonal illnesses like the flu were found in 64 percent of people in contact, according to the study. The case provides evidence that “children may not be an important source of transmission of this new virus,” he said.
The nine-year-old boy had only mild symptoms, the authors write. As the study’s epidemiologist and co-author Kostas Danis told AFP, the boy also had other respiratory illnesses.
A large portion of known crown infections in children is mild. However, it is feared that infected children may infect older people or members of high-risk groups. Due to this fear, schools and kindergartens are closed in many countries.
