Children and young people 50 per cent less likely to get virus

Children and young people are 50 per cent less likely to catch SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, than adults.

Children and young people 50% less likely to get Covid-19

Researchers say the findings from a UCL-led review of global test, tracing and population screening studies, provide further evidence on children’s susceptibility to Covid-19, and the data will be important for governments making decisions about school reopening and easing lockdown restrictions.

In the largest study of its kind, researchers undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis study, of more than 6,000 international studies, to understand how likely it is that children catch Covid-19 (known as susceptibility) and whether they pass it on to others (known as transmission or infectiousness).

Lead author Professor Russell Viner (UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health) said: “There is an increasing amount of data on children and Covid-19, and this is the first study to review what we do and do not know about susceptibility and transmission.

“Our findings show children and young people appear 56 per cent less likely to contract Covid-19 from infected others. “Susceptibility is a key part of the chain of infection, and this supports the view that children are likely to play a smaller role in transmitting the virus and proliferating the pandemic.

This new data provides essential evidence to governments around the world to inform their decision-making on whether to reopen schools and reduce or end lockdown measures.”

In total 6,332 studies were screened, which allowed researchers to identify 18 studies with useful data: nine were contact-tracing studies, eight were population-screening studies and one was a systematic review of small household cluster contact-screening studies.

In conclusion, the analysis showed children and young people (aged under 18-20 years of age) had 56 per cent lower odds of catching SARS-CoV-2 from an infected person, compared with adults (aged over 20).