Study: People under 20 half as likely as adults to be infected with COVID-19

A new modeling study recently revealed that people under the age of 20 are about half as likely to be infected with coronavirus as adults, and they are also less likely to transmit the disease to others. Earlier, studies had found differences in symptoms and the clinical course of COVID-19 in children compared to adults. Scientists had also reported that a lower proportion of children are diagnosed with COVID-19 compared to older age groups. 

Now, to better understand the susceptibility and infectivity of children, researchers from the University of Haifa fitted mathematical and statistical models of transmission within households to a dataset of COVID-19 testing results from the dense city of Bnei Brak, Israel. According to the new study, published in the journal PLOS Computational Biology, covered 637 households whose members all underwent PCR testing for active infection in the spring of 2020. Out of the 637 households, some people also received serology testing for SAR-CoV-2 antibodies, scientists said. 

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Children more likely to receive negative PCR 

By adjusting model parameters to fit the data, the researchers found that people under the age of 20 years are 43 per cent less susceptible to COVID-19 than those over 20. The researchers said that with infectivity estimated at 63 per cent of that of adults, children are also less likely to spread COVID-19 to others. Moreover, the researchers also found that children are more likely than adults to receive negative PCR results despite actually being infected, which could explain to worldwide reports that a lower proportion of children are diagnosed compared to adults. 

Meanwhile, COVID-19 disease is still raging havoc across the world since being discovered more than a year ago in China. The world has registered more than 109 million cases, with over 2.4 million deaths so far. Scientists have managed to develop multiple vaccines to block the spread of the disease, which governments are currently administering to people in all parts of the globe. According to Our World in Data, so far more than 175 doses of vaccines have been administered, with the US, China, EU, the United Kingdom, and India leading the pack. 

(With inputs from PTI)

(Image: AP) 

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