As the infection of the new coronavirus continues to spread, the number of infections in children is also increasing rapidly.
Before the end of summer vacation and the start of classes at elementary schools, pediatricians have pointed out that "measures should be taken on the premise that infections will increase at school, such as early understanding."
Akifumi Tokita, director of the Tokyo Pediatrician Association, which is made up of pediatricians in Tokyo, runs a pediatric clinic in Minato-ku, Tokyo, and examines children who are suspected of being infected.
In order to understand the infection status of children, we have conducted tests with a simple antigen test kit and analyzed the viral load.
According to this, the test results for 105 patients from January to 18th of this month showed that 15 patients were estimated to have a high viral load.
Ten of them believe that the number of children with high viral load is increasing because they were confirmed positive this month.
Mr. Tokita analyzed, "Due to the influence of the Delta strain, it seems that the amount of virus is increasing even when children are infected. There is a possibility that the transmission between children and children to adults, which has not been so much before, may increase." increase.
On top of that, he said, "We have to deal with it on the premise that the number of infections will increase even at school. It is necessary to try to grasp it at an early stage by utilizing a test using a simple kit that can tell the result immediately." Was there.