Young children under age 5 with mild to moderate COVID-19 had high amounts of SARS-CoV-2 in their upper respiratory tract versus adults or older children, researchers found.
A cohort of 145 patients under the age of 1 month to 65 years separated by age found that younger young people had particularly lowered the mid-cycle threshold (TC) values than young people or older adults, suggesting that they had upper viral nucleic acid in their upper respiratory tract. other age groups reported Taylor Heald-Sargent, MD, PhD, of Ann Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, and her colleagues.
These differences were about 10 to one hundred times higher amounts of SARS-CoV-2 in the nasopharynge of young children, the authors wrote in a letter of study in JAMA Pediatrics.
Most importantly, the researchers stated that their findings were limited to the detection of viral nucleic acid and infectious virus.
“Young people can be important points in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the general population,” the team said.
Research has combined on the role of young people in the spread of COVID-19, confusing through school closures in the United States in the spring, and knowledge about young people has been largely limited. But the issue was further discussed with the proposed reopening of schools in the fall.
“The behavioral behaviour of young people and the proximity of schools and nurseries raise considerations about THE amplification of SARS-CoV-2 in this population as public aptitude restrictions are eased,” the authors said.
They added that young people have milder symptoms than adults, but also “cause the spread of respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases in the population.” In addition, the researchers noted that this has been shown with the breathing of the syncytial virus, where “young people with a higher viral load are more likely to transmit.”
The team conducted SARS-CoV-2 chain reaction (PCR) tests against transcriptase-polymerase in hospital nasopharyngeal swabs, outpatients, emergencies, and service tests at a tertiary pediatric care center in Chicago from March 23 to April 27. The researchers then recorded the CT values of the PCR amplification cycle, with “lower values indicating higher amounts of viral nucleic acid.”
Patients had mild to moderate disease within one week of the onset of symptoms, and participants included 46 young people under the age of five, five1 young people aged five to 17, and 48 adults over the age of 18. The authors discovered average CT values for older youth and adults, but younger youth had particularly smaller differences in CT values.
These differences persisted in a sensitivity analysis, adding those whose duration of symptoms is unknown. The authors also reported that they identified a “low correlation” between the duration of symptoms and CT in the 3 age groups.
With respect to the physical fitness implications of the results, Heald-Sargent stated that this population of young people will be vital to be vaccinated as SARS-CoV-2 vaccines become available.
Molly Walker is assistant editor covering infectious diseases for MedPage Today. He is passionate about evidence, knowledge and public health. Follow
Heald-Sargent and a co-author received support from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Other co-authors have revealed Ansun BioPharma, Astellas Pharma, AstraZeneca, Abbott Laboratories, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Karius, Merck, Melinta Therapeutics, Roche, Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, Seqirus and Aqua Pharmaceuticals.
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