Covid-19 escapes detection in children unless extensive testing is done
A surveillance plan that tests only symptomatic children will fail to identify children who are silently shedding the virus while moving about their community and schools, researchers say
28 August 2020 - 18:07
Melbourne — Most children develop very mild SARS-CoV-2 infections that risk escaping detection unless extensive testing is done to find cases, South Korean researchers said.
The Asian country used mass testing of suspected Covid-19 cases, patient isolation and contact tracing to control the pandemic virus. Still, about 70% of children at risk of infection had symptoms that didn’t get picked up, researchers said on Friday in the journal Jama Pediatrics. In fact, 93% of paediatric cases would have been missed if doctors had focused on testing symptomatic patients alone, they said...
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