Understanding the role of children in COVID-19 transmission was major ramifications for school and daycare settings and vaccine campaign targeting. For a study, the researchers sought to figure out how children play a part in SARS-CoV-2 transmission to other kids and adults. Articles published before March 31, 2021, were electronically searched in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Web of Science. Children and adults in schools, residences, and other congregate pediatric settings were studied for child-to-child and child-to-adult transmission and the incidence of index and secondary attack rates. All articles that described SARS-CoV-2 transmission from a child were included. The PRISMA guidelines for data abstraction were followed, with 2 reviewers overseeing each step. Only 40 of the 6,110 articles found matched the requirements for inclusion. There were 0.8 secondary cases for every primary index case, with an 8.4% secondary attack rate among known contacts. Adult contacts had a secondary attack rate of 26.4%, while child contacts had a rate of 5.7%. The pooled estimate of a second case being infected as a contact of a pediatric index case was 0.10. (95% CI 0.03-0.25). COVID-19 was transmitted to children at a lesser rate than to adults. Adults in the home were at greater risk of infection from an infected kid than adults or children in other settings.
Source:bmcpediatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12887-022-03175-8
