Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

March 30, 2020

Children are unlikely to have been the primary source of household SARS-CoV-2 infections

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  • Zhu et al investigated concerns that children could be an important source of SARS-CoV-2 in household transmission clusters. The observational study analyzed literature published on the clinical features of SARS-CoV-2 in children and household transmission clusters of SARS-CoV-2 in China, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and Iran. Only 9.7% of clusters were identified as having a pediatric index case. They conclude that whilst SARS-CoV-2 can cause mild disease in children, the data to date suggests that children have not played a substantive role in the intra-household transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

Zhu et al. (Mar 30, 2020). Children are unlikely to have been the primary source of household SARS-CoV-2 infections. Preprint downloaded Mar 30 from https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.26.20044826