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In most cases, they found, the chain of transmission stopped with the infected child, but in 27.3% of households, children transmitted the virus to at least one other resident.
Adolescents were the most likely to introduce the virus at home: children aged 14 to 17 accounted for 38% of all index cases. Children aged 3 and under were the first to fall ill in only 12% of households, but they were the most likely to pass the virus to others in their homes. The risk of transmission at home was about 40% higher when the infected child was 3 years old or younger than when he was 14 to 17 years old.
The results may be the result of behavioral differences between toddlers and teens, medical experts have said.
“When we think about the social behavior of adolescents outside the home, they spend a lot of time together, they are often quite close, they touch each other or share a drink,” said Dr. Susan E. Coffin, specialist in infectious diseases at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which did not participate in the study.
These behaviors could make teens more likely to contract the virus and bring it home, she said.
On the other hand, while very young children probably have less social interaction outside the home, they tend to be in close physical contact with other members of their household, in addition to frequently putting their hands together. and other objects in their mouths, which could help spread the virus. “Once they bring it into the household, it can spread easily,” Dr Coffin said.
It is also possible that younger children carry higher levels of the virus or have higher rates of viral shedding than adolescents, the researchers noted. Some studies have shown that although young children rarely get seriously ill, they can carry similar or even higher levels of the virus than adults. Although viral load is not a perfect predictor of infectivity, the data suggests that children could potentially be as contagious as adults.
But the dynamics of disease transmission are complicated, and the precise role children play in the spread of the virus remains unclear.
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