Published the results of the Vall d’Hebron study, which shows that minors are low transmitters of SARS-CoV-2

Only 7.7% (80 cases) of pediatric patients with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis in Catalonia between July 1 and October 31 were the transmitters of the SARS-CoV-2 infection to the rest of the members of their family nucleus. This is shown by the results of the study ‘Pediatric COVID in Catalonia: joining efforts to provide responses to COVID-19 (COPEDI-CAT)’, which are now published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. The analysis was performed from 1,040 pediatric patients with a positive PCR and 3,392 family contacts diagnosed between July 1 and October 31.

In 756 of the cases (72.7% of the cases), another family member was identified with PCR or microbiological diagnosis prior to those of the minor, or who clearly had symptoms of COVID-19 diagnosed before the minor and in contact direct with him. Only in 80 cases (7.7%), it was determined after the contact study that the pediatric patient had spread SARS-CoV-2 to other members of her family. In 52 additional cases, the index case was another minor in the family (5%).

You can consult here the news published with the preliminary results of the study. "The prospective study reaffirms that children are less transmitters of SARS-CoV-2 than adults in the home environment", explained Dr. Pere Soler, head of the Vall d'Hebron Pediatric Infectious Pathology and Immunodeficiencies Unit. “The free movement of children and their return to schools have not led to a greater transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by them. The vast majority of pediatric patients analyzed have been secondary cases despite the fact that the home is a space with a considerable burden of disease", added Dr. Pere Soler, who is also head of the research group on Infection in Pediatric Patients Immunosuppressed from the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR).