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I've seen suggestions that the idea younger children might be less susceptible to infection with #COVID19 is a "myth", based on children just not being tested enough
That is untrue!
Whilst it's true children are under tested, this is not where this idea came from!
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That is untrue!
Whilst it's true children are under tested, this is not where this idea came from!
1/8
It comes from household contact tracing studies
When someone in a home is identified as being infected, the other members of the house are tested to see if they are infected
It's a useful experiment as everyone at home gets very similar exposure
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When someone in a home is identified as being infected, the other members of the house are tested to see if they are infected
It's a useful experiment as everyone at home gets very similar exposure
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Some early studies did only test contacts with symptoms, but actually most large studies since then have tested ALL close contacts REGARDLESS of symptoms
Here are just a handful
Zhang
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6498/1481
Jing
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30471-0/fulltext
Somekh
https://journals.lww.com/pidj/Fulltext/2020/08000/The_Role_of_Children_in_the_Dynamics_of_Intra.30.aspx
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Here are just a handful
Zhang
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6498/1481
Jing
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30471-0/fulltext
Somekh
https://journals.lww.com/pidj/Fulltext/2020/08000/The_Role_of_Children_in_the_Dynamics_of_Intra.30.aspx
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Rosenburg
https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/71/8/1953/5831986
Sun
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/11/23/science.abe2424
Van der Hoek
https://www.ntvg.nl/artikelen/de-rol-van-kinderen-de-transmissie-van-sars-cov-2
Lewis
https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciaa1166/5893024
ALL of these found young children to be around half as susceptible to infection as adults
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https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/71/8/1953/5831986
Sun
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/11/23/science.abe2424
Van der Hoek
https://www.ntvg.nl/artikelen/de-rol-van-kinderen-de-transmissie-van-sars-cov-2
Lewis
https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciaa1166/5893024
ALL of these found young children to be around half as susceptible to infection as adults
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There are many studies on this issue, which is why even better than looking at individual (even large) studies, is to look at many in combination - meta analyses
There are several; ALL of which found young children around half as susceptible as adults
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There are several; ALL of which found young children around half as susceptible as adults
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Madewell
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2774102
Zhu
https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciaa1825/6024998#.X821iNvCv-E.twitter
Goldstein
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiaa691
Viner
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2771181
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https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2774102
Zhu
https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciaa1825/6024998#.X821iNvCv-E.twitter
Goldstein
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiaa691
Viner
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2771181
6/8
Regarding epidemiology and under testing, even infection surveys who test populations regardless of symptom status in England have found far lower rates of infection than you should predict, given children much higher number of contacts than adults
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So there you have it!
Another myth about COVID-19 in children busted
It's never cased closed, but this is where the available evidence leaves us for the moment.
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Another myth about COVID-19 in children busted
It's never cased closed, but this is where the available evidence leaves us for the moment.
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