Age is an important factor in Covid-19 infections, confirmed a new study, estimating that people under 20 years old are only half as likely to get infected as those over 20.
The results of the study suggest that "interventions targeted at children may have a relatively small impact on reducing the transmission" of the new coronavirus (Covid-19), as many countries are debating about reopening schools after the lockdown.
Additionally, the proportion of patients who report symptoms after being infected is 21% among those aged 10 to 19 years old, while it climbs to 69% among those over 70 years old, according to estimates from this study published in the journal Nature Medicine.
To arrive at these estimates, researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine developed a mathematical model based on age using data from six countries (China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Canada and South Korea).
The researchers also simulated Covid-19 epidemics in 146 capital cities around the world, and concluded that the expected number of cases, in the absence of measures, varied according to the age of the population. The higher the average age of the population, the higher the number of cases per capita.
Numerous studies have shown that children are less sensitive to Covid-19 than adults, for reasons as yet unknown.
The Brussels Times
