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Children Are Potential Reservoirs And Spreaders Of Emerging Covid Variants

Children Are Potential Reservoirs And Spreaders Of Emerging Covid Variants

Children with Covid-19, both symptomatic and asymptomatic, are infectious and can harbour SARS-CoV-2 variants, reveals a new study.

Written by Longjam Dineshwori |Updated : October 15, 2021 6:31 PM IST

Children are an essential component in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic as they can carry high levels of live and replicating SARS-CoV-2 and infect other people. This was the conclusion of a new study that emphases the need for increasing awareness of pediatric Covid and implementing broader testing programmes for children.

Published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, the study was led by a team from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Brigham and Women's Hospital, Ragon Institute, MIT and Harvard. They studied more than 100 children including infants who tested positive for Covid-19 at MGH or urgent care clinics. They found highest levels of live, infectious virus early in the illness in both symptomatic and asymptomatic children.

However, they found no correlation between the age of the children and the amount of their viral load, or the viral load and severity of disease in the kids themselves.

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Lael Yonker, pediatric pulmonologist at MGH, said that children with Covid-19 act as potential "reservoirs" for the evolution of new variants as well as potential spreaders of existing variants.

"Kids with Covid-19, even if asymptomatic, are infectious and can harbour SARS-CoV-2 variants. Variants could potentially impact both the severity of the disease and the efficacy of vaccines, as we are seeing with the Delta variant. When we cultured the live virus, we found a wide variety of genetic variants. New variants have the potential to be more contagious and also make kids sicker," IANS quoted Yonker as saying.

The study also found similar viral loads in hospitalised kids and adults. This means they are equally capable of spreading the virus to others.

How Can You Protect Your Child From Covid?

According to the Mayo Clinic, babies below one year may be more likely to get severe illness with COVID-19 than older children due to their immature immune systems and smaller airways. If you suspect you have COVID-19 symptoms or are tested positive, it's recommended that you wear a face mask, have clean hands when caring for your baby, and maintain a reasonable distance when possible. If you are tested positive for COVID-19 and severely ill, you may be recommended to stay temporarily separated from your baby.

The best way to keep children safe is to continue to follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviours.

  • Stay home as much as possible and always maintain a safe physical distance from others.
  • Wear masks when you are outside and make sure your children (only those above two years of age) wear too when they are outdoors.
  • Wash your hands often and teach your children the right way and right time to wash their hands.
  • Take your child for vaccination when the vaccine is available and if they are eligible to get the shot.

A few vaccines are available now under emergency use authorization for older children. In India, the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) in the Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) has granted emergency use approval to Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for children in the 2-18 years age group. It has to be approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), only then details such as specific quantity for each dose and the cost would be known.

Zydus Cadila's ZyCov-D received emergency use approval for children between the ages of 12 to 18 from DCGI in August 2020. It is the first DNA vaccine to be approved in the world. The Centre is all set to roll out the three-dose vaccine this month.