Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
A critical question in getting a handle on coronavirus: What role do kids play in spreading it?
By Helen Branswell and Megan Thielking
February 27, 2020
Among the many, many unknowns about the new coronavirus: What role do children play in transmission of the virus that causes Covid-19 disease?
It’s a question that public health experts would love an answer to. Knowing whether kids are innocent bystanders, getting infected if someone brings the virus into their households, or are in fact a population that is stealthily driving this epidemic, would give response planners critical ammunition to use in the battle against the virus.
What’s at stake are decisions about policies that can be hugely disruptive to families and workplaces. Should schools be closed to slow spread when the virus enters new terrain, forcing parents to scramble for child care alternatives or stay home? Should long-term care facilities discourage families from bringing young children to visit grandparents or other aging relatives?
Though the evidence to date suggests this virus doesn’t inflict severe disease on children, there’s reason to think kids may be helping to amplify transmission. It’s a role they play to devastating effect during flu season, becoming ill and passing flu viruses on to their parents, grandparents, teachers, and caregivers...
Read more: https://www.statnews.com/2020/02/27/coronavirus-kids-what-role-transmission/
By Helen Branswell and Megan Thielking
February 27, 2020
Among the many, many unknowns about the new coronavirus: What role do children play in transmission of the virus that causes Covid-19 disease?
It’s a question that public health experts would love an answer to. Knowing whether kids are innocent bystanders, getting infected if someone brings the virus into their households, or are in fact a population that is stealthily driving this epidemic, would give response planners critical ammunition to use in the battle against the virus.
What’s at stake are decisions about policies that can be hugely disruptive to families and workplaces. Should schools be closed to slow spread when the virus enters new terrain, forcing parents to scramble for child care alternatives or stay home? Should long-term care facilities discourage families from bringing young children to visit grandparents or other aging relatives?
Though the evidence to date suggests this virus doesn’t inflict severe disease on children, there’s reason to think kids may be helping to amplify transmission. It’s a role they play to devastating effect during flu season, becoming ill and passing flu viruses on to their parents, grandparents, teachers, and caregivers...
Read more: https://www.statnews.com/2020/02/27/coronavirus-kids-what-role-transmission/