Kids play a larger part in the community spread of COVID-19 than previously thought, according to a study which found that the younger individuals might not be as inclined to become seriously sick as adults, but they can spread infection and bring the virus into their houses. The study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, also challenges the present hypothesis that because children have lower numbers of immune receptors for SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes COVID-19, this makes them less likely to become infected or severely ill.

In the analysis of 192 children ages 0-22, 49 kids tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and an additional 18 children had late-onset, COVID-19-related illness, according to the researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in the united states.

The contaminated children were demonstrated to possess a significantly high level of virus in their airways compared to hospitalised adults in ICUs for COVID-19 treatment, they stated.

"I was amazed by the high levels of virus we discovered in children of all ages, particularly in the first two days of disease," said Lael Yonker, from MGH, and lead author of this analysis.

"I was not anticipating the viral load to be this high. You think of a hospital, as well as all the precautions taken to treat severely ill adults, however, the viral loads of those hospitalised patients are significantly lower than a'healthy kid' who is walking around having a tall SARS-CoV-2 viral load," Yonker said.

The findings in nose and throat swabs and blood samples take consequences for the reopening of schools, healthcare centres and other places with a high density of children and intimate discussion with instructors and team members.

"Children aren't immune against this disease, and their symptoms don't correlate with exposure and infection," said Alessio Fasano, director of the Mucosal Immunology and Biology Research Center at MGH.

"During this COVID-19 pandemic, we have mainly screened symptomatic subjects, so we've reached the incorrect conclusion that the vast majority of individuals infected are adults.

However, our results show that kids are not protected against this virus. We shouldn't discount children as potential spreaders for this particular virus," Fasano said.