Incidence of COVID-19 higher in teenagers than children during May to September 2020
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 30, 2020 (HealthDay News) — The incidence of COVID-19 was higher in adolescents than among children during May to September 2020, according to research published in the Sept. 28 early-release issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Rebecca T. Leeb, Ph.D., from the CDC COVID-19 Response Team, and colleagues analyzed trends in weekly COVID-19 incidence during March 1 to Sept. 19, 2020, among 277,285 laboratory-confirmed cases in U.S. school-aged children.
The researchers found that the average weekly incidence (cases per 100,000 children) during May to September 2020 was higher in adolescents aged 12 to 17 years than among children aged 5 to 11 years (37.4 versus 19.0). COVID-19 indicators peaked during July 2020 in school-aged children, with an increase in the weekly percentage of positive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) test results from 10 to 14 percent on May 31 to July 5, 2020. From May 31 to July 12, there was an increase in SARS-CoV-2 test volume from 100,981 to 322,227. An increase in COVID-19 incidence was observed from 13.8 to 37.9 per 100,000 on May 31 and July 19. Overall, 16, 27, and 28 percent of school-aged children who were hospitalized, admitted to an intensive care unit, and died, respectively, had at least one underlying medical condition.
“These findings can provide a baseline for monitoring national trends,” the authors write. “Monitoring at the local-level could inform decision-makers about which mitigation strategies are most effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19 in schools and communities.”
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