MONDAY, Aug. 31, 2020 (HealthDay News) — The new coronavirus can be present in children’s noses and throats for weeks without causing any symptoms, according to a new study that suggests how the virus can spread silently.<\/p>\n
Researchers found that among 91 pre-symptomatic and symptomatic South Korean children diagnosed with COVID-19<\/a> between Feb. 18 and March 31, 22% never had any obvious symptoms and another 20% didn’t have symptoms initially but developed them later, CNN<\/i> reported.<\/p>\n The study was published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n “In this case series study, inapparent infections in children may have been associated with silent COVID-19<\/a> transmission in the community,” the researchers wrote.<\/p>\n “Interestingly, this study aligns with adult data in which up to 40% of adults may remain asymptomatic in the face of infection,” Dr. Roberta DeBiasi and Dr. Meghan Delaney, both of Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., wrote in an accompanying editorial.<\/p>\n “In this study, the authors estimate that 85 infected children (93%) would have been missed using a testing strategy focused on testing of symptomatic patients alone,” DeBiasi and Delaney wrote, CNN<\/i> reported.<\/p>\n The study was released shortly after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a> issued new guidelines saying that some people without COVID-19<\/a> symptoms may not need to be tested for the new coronavirus, a policy change that’s been criticized by many medical experts and groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics<\/a>.<\/p>\n “We know that children often show few or no symptoms of COVID-19<\/a>. We also know they are not immune to this virus, and they can become very sick. Testing exposed individuals who may not yet show symptoms of COVID-19 is crucial to contact tracing, which helps identify and support other people who are at risk of infection,” AAP President Dr. Sally Goza said in a statement, CNN<\/i> reported.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div>\n![\"MedicalNews\"](\"https:\/\/images.medicinenet.com\/images\/HealthDay\/healthday.png\")
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