TOPLINE
Younger individuals aged 10 to 19 years old are more likely than other age groups to spread out the coronavirus in their home, according to a big contact tracing research study in South Korea quickly to be released by the Centers for Disease Control, a concerning indication as U.S. school districts weigh whether to reopen for in-person classes in the fall.
Senior trainees get body temperature measured at Kyungbok High School in Seoul, South Korea, May 20, … [+]2020.
KEY FACTS
The study is an early release of an upcoming short article in Emerging Contagious Illness, a peer-reviewed journal published by the CDC.
Scientists followed 5,706 coronavirus clients from January 20 to March 27– when schools in South Korea were closed– who were the first to report COVID-19 signs in their home and traced all of their contacts to identify how the virus spread.
The research study discovered that young people, in between the ages of 10 to 19, were rarely the first in their home to reveal symptoms– but when they were, 18.6%of their contacts contracted the illness, which is more than any other age group.
By contrast, children 9 years old and younger were the least likely group to spread out coronavirus in their household, with 5.3%of their contacts– which represents 3 people– screening favorable.
Outside the household, older individuals in between the ages of 70 and 79 were the most likely to spread the illness, with 4.8%of their non-household contacts becoming contaminated.
The authors say the research study has restrictions, such as the truth that all asymptomatic cases might not have actually been recognized, however Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, told the New York Times that this is “among the best research studies we have actually needed to date on this concern.”
Crucial quote
“ We revealed that home transmission of SARS-CoV-2 was high if the index patient was 10–19 years