Plos Comput Bio: Mathematical models reveal that children are twice as resistant to COVID-19 as adults

February 12, 2021 /--- A new computational analysis shows that people under the age of 20 are half as likely as adults to be infected with COVID-19, and they are less likely to infect others.
Dattner of the University of Haifa in Israel and colleagues presented the findings in the open access journal PLOS Computional Biology.
study found that children's symptoms differed from those of adults and the clinical process of COVID-19.
others reported a lower proportion of children being diagnosed than in older age groups.
, however, only a few studies compared the modes of transmission between age groups, and their conclusions are uncertain.
to better understand children's susceptibility and contagion, Dattner and colleagues fitted mathematical and statistical models transmitted in the home to a data set of COVID-19 test results from Bnei Brak, Israel's densely populated city.
the data set covers 637 households, all of which will be tested for active infection in the spring of 2020.
also received serological tests for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.
adjusted the model parameters to fit the data, the researchers found that people under the age of 20 were 43 percent more susceptible than those over 20.
estimated to be about 63 percent infectious to adults, and children are less likely to transmit COVID-19 to others.
also found that children were more likely than adults to get negative PCR results, despite being actually infected.
findings could explain reports around the world that the proportion of children diagnosed is lower than that of adults.
can help guide the mathematical modeling of COVID-19 dynamics, public health policies, and control measures.
future computational research may explore transmission dynamics in other environments, such as nursing homes and schools.
study, understanding the role of children in communication was a top priority," said Dr. Dadtner.
(Bioon.com) Source: Mathematical modeling suggests kids half as susceptible to COVID-19 as adults Original source: Dattner I, Goldberg Y, Katriel G, Yaari R, Gal N, Miron Y, et al. (2021) The role of children in the spread of COVID-19: Using household data from Bnei Brak, Israel, to estimate the relative susceptibility and infectivity of children. PLoS Comput Biol 17(2): e1008559. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008559