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The contagion rate of children in summer camps is much lower than the average, with a reproduction rate (Rt) of the virus of 0.3, while in the populations around these recreational centers, the average is It is between 1.7 and 2. This is clear from the 'Kids Corona' study at the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital in Barcelona, ​​in which 1,905 people participated , including children (between 13 and 17 years old) and monitors aged 22 summer camps in the Barcelona area.

The analysis of the work lasted for five weeks, in which the researchers detected a total of 39 cases of new-onset coronavirus, 30 of them in children and nine on monitors. The 30 pediatric cases identified were in contact with 253 people and only 12 contracted the infection (4.7%). In other words, most of the pediatric index cases (22) detected have not transmitted any infection in the camps, five have transmitted it to one contact, two to two contacts and one to three contacts. This is one of the largest studies ever conducted internationally to answer the question: How do children transmit SARS-CoV-2 to other minors or adults?

Although the results indicate that the contagion rate is almost six times lower than that of the general population (1.7 to 2) in the areas where the camps were located, the authors of this study have nevertheless indicated that the Its results are not "directly extrapolated" to school environments because the activities of these camps were mostly carried out outdoors and in groups of less than ten children.

"Children have the ability to be infected, now we have seen that they have the ability to transmit, but if we do things with a series of strategies, the significance of opening schools may be small and we will be able to open them safely and with infection and transmission rates as low as possible ", said Iolanda Jordan, one of the authors of the study.

The activities have been developed by implementing basic risk containment measures, such as frequent hand washing (at least five times a day), use of a mask, activities mainly outdoors and reduced bubble groups . According to Jordan, "the distribution of children in bubble groups, as has been done in summer camps, has been shown to be effective in containing the transmission of the infection, in facilitating the traceability of contacts and in allowing quarantine selective ". And he adds: "This does not exclude that a system with larger groups cannot function properly."

The study also shows that children under 12 years of age have the same ability to transmit the disease as those between the ages of 13 and 17.

Regarding the tests that have been carried out on the participants in these camps, it is highlighted that the PCR tests in saliva are reliable and better accepted than the nasopharyngeal tests. A relevant detail for people who must be tested often, especially if they are children. " Our job, in short, what it does is to give clues to open schools in September in a safe and controlled way, applying measures such as those that have been implemented in summer camps, that is, with bubble groups, use of a mask and frequent hand washing ". In addition, she affirms that "in this way, it will be possible to maintain the transmission of the infection at very low levels and guarantee the normal functioning of most of the schools."

For her part, the Minister of Health, Alba Vergés, has valued the importance of research studies like this one, since in the current context of absence of sufficient scientific evidence, it is very relevant to answer the questions that the epidemic constantly causes . " We are building the evidence and the study can provide ideas for rigorous decision-making ," said Vergés before reiterating the importance of guaranteeing the pedagogical and emotional right of children with the return to schools in the best possible safety conditions. .

However, the researchers show that this research work has some limitations when extrapolating its results . They emphasize that the follow-up has been done in a short time (five weeks) and that the results come from PCR tests, but that they are still pending serological tests that could cause some variation. Contacts have also been followed up clinically to detect possible false negatives. In the same way, it should be remembered that most of the activities in the camps have been carried out outdoors and with small groups, so that the results cannot be directly extrapolated in other conditions.

The study has been carried out, like all those promoted by the Kids Corona platform, with contributions from civil society, among which the 500,000 euros contributed by the Barça Foundation, the 200,000 from Banco Santander and the help of the Nou foundations stand out. Mil·lenni, Villa Reyes, Carmen and Maria José Godó, and Colonial real estate, among others.

Previous studies

During the past months of April and May, researchers from the 'Kids Corona' platform investigated the incidence and impact of Covid-19 in children and pregnant women. They studied 411 families with a total of 724 children in which at least one of the parents had suffered from the disease. In addition, they analyzed the cases of children treated at the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital with a confirmed diagnosis or symptoms compatible with this disease, as well as the pregnant women treated at Sant Joan de Déu and at the Sant Pau and Clínic hospitals.

The serological tests that were carried out in these homes allowed the researchers to discover that 17.5% of the children who have lived with a father or mother sick with Covid-19 have also contracted the virus . This is a very similar percentage to that identified in adults who have been in contact with an infected partner (18.9%).

This led the researchers to conclude that children are infected in the same way as adults when exposed to a source of infection, but the disease manifests itself much milder , since more than 99% of the minors did not show symptoms or these were unimportant.

In addition, the researchers analyzed 874 pregnant women and concluded that pregnant women infected during the first trimester (54 women) had milder symptoms, with 70% asymptomatic women and 30% with mild symptoms. In the pregnant women infected during the third trimester (71 women), on the other hand, there were fewer asymptomatic cases (52%), with 43.5% mild symptoms and 4.5% with pneumonia.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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