Coronavirus: Toddlers most likely to spread virus in home, research reveals

Children under three first to fall ill in 12pc of households, but 40pc more likely than 14 to 17-year-olds to pass it on.

The findings can be explained in part by behavioural factors, including the fact that very young children require hands-on care, cannot be isolated when they become sick, and frequently put their hands and other objects in their mouths. Picture: Supplied

Babies and toddlers are more likely than teenagers to spread the coronavirus to other members of their household, according to research by a Canadian public health agency.

Although children aged three or younger were the first to fall ill in only 12 per cent of households, they were 40 per cent more likely than those aged 14 to 17 to pass it on, even though the odds of the latter group becoming infected were far higher. The findings can be explained in part by behavioural factors, including the fact that very young children require hands-on care, cannot be isolated when they become sick, and frequently put their hands and other objects in their mouths.

The study, published on Monday in the journal JAMA paediatrics, does not resolve whether infected children are as contagious as adults, and does not suggest that toddlers are driving the pandemic.

However, it comes as schools prepare to reopen in Britain, as well as the US and Canada, where children under 12 are not eligible for vaccinations.

In the pandemic’s early months, experts and officials suggested children rarely got infected with the coronavirus, and rarely transmitted it. However, young children had little social interaction at the time because they were isolating at home.

The researchers, from Public Health Ontario, examined records of Covid-19 cases and positive coronavirus tests in Canada’s most populous province from June to December last year. They identified positive cases associated with private households and looked at the first person to develop symptoms or test positive in the home.

Although in most cases the chain of transmission stopped with the child, in 27.3 per cent of households where children became sick first, they passed the coronavirus to at least one other resident.

Other studies have found that even though toddlers rarely get seriously ill, they may carry similar or even higher levels of virus than adults do.

The Times