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> Unlike Covid, kids are a significant vector of spread for influenza Kids are significant spreaders of both influenza and Covid (after school reopenings, in m

> Unlike Covid, kids are a significant vector of spread for influenza Kids are significant spreaders of both influenza and Covid (after school reopenings, in many countries kids become one of the top sources of inter-household Covid spread). They just tend to have mild or absent Covid symptoms and didn’t require regular testing for work etc., and therefore did not get consistently tested in most parts of the world. In some places parents deliberately avoided testing their kids for fear positive tests would interfere with their in-person schooling or extracurricular activities. Repeated claims that kids don’t spread Covid were politically motivated and based largely on junk science. Admittedly doing good studies was extremely difficult in places like the USA where spread was wildly out of control and contact tracing was completely overwhelmed.

ryankemper 6y ago
Actually, what you're saying is untrue. The overwhelming evidence shows that children spread COVID less than adults do. My favorite is this: https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa2006100?articleTools=true https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa2006100?articleTo... The study isolated SARS-CoV-2 samples from every positive case, sequenced genome of virus, and tracked the mutation patterns. So, that will avoid a lot of the errors that improper qPCR usage can result in. First things first, age and viral susceptibility: > Of the 564 children under the age of 10 years in the targeted testing group, 38 (6.7%) tested positive, in contrast to positive test result in 1183 of 8635 persons who were 10 years of age or older (13.7%). In analyses involving participants up to 20 years of age, we observed a gradual increase with older age in the percentage who tested positive (Fig. S5). That's more about who got it, but there's some discussion of transmission here where the senior author talks about it: https://www.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/blog/hunting-down-covid-19/ https://www.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/blog/hunting-down-covi... > Children under 10 are less likely to get infected than adults and if they get infected, they are less likely to get seriously ill. What is interesting is that even if children do get infected, they are less likely to transmit the disease to others than adults. We have not found a single instance of a child infecting parents. > There is an amazing diversity in the way in which we react to the virus. --- (I recognize I only presented one study here - there's only so much time in the day :P - but the other high-quality studies I've seen confirm this. Mechanistically it makes sense if you look at the enormous T-cell cross-reactivity in those age groups. And BTW, data on school closures for Influenza (which children seem to transmit much more readily) showed that school closures were ineffective anyway because they would just spread it more outside of school)
- SamBam 6y ago
  Interesting that this was getting downvoted. Obviously relates to what the poster above was saying about it being "politically incorrect." We may disagree on what the science implies, but downvoting someone for sharing research means that people are refusing to listen to anything that disagrees with their preconceived notions. (I guess perhaps the implicit assumption is that anyone pushing articles that show that kids are at less risk, or that kids don't spread Covid as well, must also be pushing for all kids to be running free and socializing?) Edit: And now this comment is getting downvoted. Folks who disagree, why not speak up about what's wrong with the study, instead of just downvoting?
  - taeric 6y ago
    To be fair, that implicit assumption is pretty strong. There is an absurd bias to push kids back in schools so parents can get back to work. Still, your points stand that there are some good studies showing kids are not necessarily the major spreaders. It is somewhat surprising to me, but it is data.
    - geoduck14 6y ago
      I work from home. My wife stays at home and takes care of young kids. We sent our 6 yo back to (in person) school because computer school was a bad idea. I have a friend who teaches high school. He is SO relieved to be ending computer teaching. I think so people want in person school so parents can work, but plenty of people want in person school because it IS better.
      - taeric 6y ago
        I empathize. We had to switch to home schooling because we couldn't keep home internet. I also think in person is better than remote. I can still think the bias to make it look safe to send kids back to school feels forced.
      - snark42 6y ago
        > but plenty of people want in person school because it IS better. For some kids, lots of data showing some kids thrived and improved while others suffered.
renewiltord 6y ago
Would you mind providing a source for your assertions?
colordrops 6y ago
It should be an internet rule that whenever someone calls something scientific or trashing something as poor science, they should provide scientific references. I'm referring to you here.

ryankemper 6y ago

Actually, what you're saying is untrue. The overwhelming evidence shows that children spread COVID less than adults do. My favorite is this: https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa2006100?articleTools=true https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa2006100?articleTo... The study isolated SARS-CoV-2 samples from every positive case, sequenced genome of virus, and tracked the mutation patterns. So, that will avoid a lot of the errors that improper qPCR usage can result in. First things first, age and viral susceptibility: > Of the 564 children under the age of 10 years in the targeted testing group, 38 (6.7%) tested positive, in contrast to positive test result in 1183 of 8635 persons who were 10 years of age or older (13.7%). In analyses involving participants up to 20 years of age, we observed a gradual increase with older age in the percentage who tested positive (Fig. S5). That's more about who got it, but there's some discussion of transmission here where the senior author talks about it: https://www.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/blog/hunting-down-covid-19/ https://www.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/blog/hunting-down-covi... > Children under 10 are less likely to get infected than adults and if they get infected, they are less likely to get seriously ill. What is interesting is that even if children do get infected, they are less likely to transmit the disease to others than adults. We have not found a single instance of a child infecting parents. > There is an amazing diversity in the way in which we react to the virus. --- (I recognize I only presented one study here - there's only so much time in the day :P - but the other high-quality studies I've seen confirm this. Mechanistically it makes sense if you look at the enormous T-cell cross-reactivity in those age groups. And BTW, data on school closures for Influenza (which children seem to transmit much more readily) showed that school closures were ineffective anyway because they would just spread it more outside of school)

SamBam 6y ago
Interesting that this was getting downvoted. Obviously relates to what the poster above was saying about it being "politically incorrect." We may disagree on what the science implies, but downvoting someone for sharing research means that people are refusing to listen to anything that disagrees with their preconceived notions. (I guess perhaps the implicit assumption is that anyone pushing articles that show that kids are at less risk, or that kids don't spread Covid as well, must also be pushing for all kids to be running free and socializing?) Edit: And now this comment is getting downvoted. Folks who disagree, why not speak up about what's wrong with the study, instead of just downvoting?
- taeric 6y ago
  To be fair, that implicit assumption is pretty strong. There is an absurd bias to push kids back in schools so parents can get back to work. Still, your points stand that there are some good studies showing kids are not necessarily the major spreaders. It is somewhat surprising to me, but it is data.
  - geoduck14 6y ago
    I work from home. My wife stays at home and takes care of young kids. We sent our 6 yo back to (in person) school because computer school was a bad idea. I have a friend who teaches high school. He is SO relieved to be ending computer teaching. I think so people want in person school so parents can work, but plenty of people want in person school because it IS better.
    - taeric 6y ago
      I empathize. We had to switch to home schooling because we couldn't keep home internet. I also think in person is better than remote. I can still think the bias to make it look safe to send kids back to school feels forced.
    - snark42 6y ago
      > but plenty of people want in person school because it IS better. For some kids, lots of data showing some kids thrived and improved while others suffered.

renewiltord 6y ago

Would you mind providing a source for your assertions?

colordrops 6y ago

It should be an internet rule that whenever someone calls something scientific or trashing something as poor science, they should provide scientific references. I'm referring to you here.