Covid, “children get infected less at school than at home”: Italian study

Children are infected with covid-19 less at school than at home. This, in summary, is the result of a study by the San Camillo-Forlanini hospital in Rome which contributes to research and knowledge on Sars-Cov-2 infection in children. The research, published in the ‘Italian Journal of Pediatrics’, was conducted by Mauro Calvani, head of Uoc Pediatrics, and his collaborators to understand which are the most frequent occasions in which children get sick with Covid-19 and their role in the transmission of infection in the family. Well, “using the conspicuous case history of the pediatric ‘walk-in’ opened last year, during the second wave of the epidemic (about 3,000 children)”, underlines the San Camillo, the authors highlighted “how following a suspected exposure to a sick subject, the infection is contracted by children less frequently at school than at home “. “However, once infected, children are able to spread the infection in family members: regardless of their age, both nursery and primary school children or high school children can infect about 30% of their family members. because, even if aware of the infectiousness of the child, measures are not always taken in the family to reduce the spread of the infection “, underlines the research.” This information is important – experts warn in a note – because the recent opening of schools and the lack of vaccination coverage of children under the age of 12 could contribute to a new increase in Covid-19 in children and they could spread the infection to their families, particularly if not vaccinated “.