Paris (AFP)

Contrary to a widespread idea at the beginning of the Covid-19 epidemic, children do not seem to be the main spreaders of the virus and seem less contagious than adults, according to the conclusions of French researchers.

More than 600 young children were tested from April 14 to May 12 for this forthcoming Ile-de-France research, consulted by AFP.

These studies tend to confirm that children seem to be less infected and less contaminating than adults, contrary to the hypothesis which prevailed at the start of the epidemic by analogy with other viruses, such as the flu.

"We did not know anything about this virus 3 or 4 months ago" but now "we know that children are less carriers, they are less contaminating", said Friday on RTL, professor Robert Cohen, pediatric infectiologist at the intercommunal hospital of Créteil and vice-president of the French Pediatric Society.

He coordinated this research carried out by 27 city pediatricians with 605 children, most of them under the age of 11 and with or without symptoms.

With other pediatric structures which supported the return to school, the French Pediatric Society had criticized on May 13 certain "unnecessary or even harmful" precautions imposed on children (ban on playing between them, refusal to console a little one .. .).

Thursday, the Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer said he hoped that the health protocol that governs the reception of students in schools can be relaxed "soon", even if it will not be right away.

He was asked about this possibility after the disclosure of the first conclusions of the study by Professor Cohen in the newspaper Le Parisien / Today in France.

"In a region strongly affected by the epidemic (Paris region) but during confinement, very few children (1.8%) were positive" to the virological test (RT-PCR) for detection of the coronavirus, write the authors.

"But the rate of children who tested positive for serology (the tests that determine whether one was infected, editor's note) was higher", with 10.7%.

For positive virological tests, contact with someone infected with the new coronavirus "was the only significant risk factor for infection," note the doctors.

Of the 65 children who tested positive (antibodies present), 87.3% had confirmed or suspected contact with Covid-19 in the family, usually an adult, according to the study.

Indeed, the number of brothers and sisters in the family did not significantly increase the probability of a positive virological or serological test result, note the authors.

The study has limitations, stress the authors as the likely overestimation of intra-family contamination due to well-monitored confinement in France, and the possible over-representation of families already affected by Covid-19, "more likely to consult and to agree to participate in the study. "

The authors plan to repeat the study after the reopening of schools and crèches in the Paris region to better assess the transmission of the coronavirus in children.

Pediatric cases represent 1 to 5% of all Covid-19 cases worldwide, according to the public health agency Santé Publique France (SpF) adding that severe forms and deaths in them remain exceptional

© 2020 AFP