Reasons for SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and their role in the transmission of infection according to age: a case-control study

Abstract

Background The locations where children get exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection and their contribution in spreading the infection are still not fully understood. Aim of the article is to verify the most frequent reasons for SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and their role in the secondary transmission of the infection. Methods A case-control study was performed in all SARS-CoV-2 positive children (n = 81) and an equal number of age- and sex- matched controls who were referred to the S. Camillo-Forlanini Pediatric Walk-in Center of Rome. The results of all SARS-CoV-2 nasopharyngeal swabs performed in children aged < 18 years from October 16 to December 19, 2020 were analyzed. Results School contacts were more frequent in controls than in cases (OR 0.49; 95% CI: 0.3–0.9), while household contacts were higher in cases (OR 5.09; 95% CI: 2.2–12.0). In both cases and controls, school contacts were significantly less frequent, while on the contrary household contacts seemed to be more frequent in nursery school children compared to primary school or middle/high school children. A multivariate logistic regression showed that the probability of being positive to SARS-CoV-2 was significantly lower in children who had school contacts or who had flu symptoms compared to children who had household contacts. Results showed a 30.6% secondary attack rate for household contacts. Conclusion In our study population, the two most frequent reasons for SARS-CoV-2 infection were school and home contacts. The risk of being positive was 5 times lower in children who had school contacts than in children who had household contacts.

SARS-CoV-2 Seroepidemiological Investigation in Jordan: Seroprevalence, Herd Immunity, and Vaccination Coverage. A Population-Based National Study

“…Similarly, children were recently reported to be more influential in transmitting the SARS-CoV-2 than initially assumed. 34,35 This report is evident in our findings, as more than half of the children were seropositive (Figure 1). Considering that COVID-19 vaccines are now (after study completion) approved for 12-18 years old in Jordan, such influential groups are then a potential target to increase herd immunity levels and play a role in the dynamics of the pandemic in Jordan.…”

“…Accordingly, the surge in COVID-19 cases following school re-opening could be justified by the recent risk of disease transmission among children. [34][35][36] Differences in seroprevalence estimates by type and dose of the COVID-19 vaccine highlight the need to call for receiving the full vaccine dosages, especially for Sinopharm.…”

Household Secondary Attack Rates of SARS-CoV-2 by Variant and Vaccination Status

“…We identified 2097 records (1791 from PubMed, 306 from medRxiv, and 2 from reference lists of eligible articles) published between June 18, 2021, and March 8, 2022 (eFigure 1 in the Supplement ). Fifty-eight new studies 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 (eTable 2 in the Supplement ) were combined with 77 studies from ou...…”

The year 2021 in COVID-19 pandemic in children

“…In line with this conclusion, the risk of being positive was five times lower in kids with a school contact rather than those who were household contact [ 9 ]. Only few outbreaks were reported in schools, likely to the implemented procedures adopted in classroom after school reopening during the second wave of COVID-19 in Italy [ 10 – 12 ].…”