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Reuters
Reuters
Health

Children have 44% lower odds of catching COVID-19 than adults, UK analysis

FILE PHOTO: Children read books in a classroom at the Barnton Community Primary school on the first day back, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Barnton, Britain September 2, 2020. REUTERS/Molly Darlington

Children have 44% lower odds of catching COVID-19 than adults, according to an analysis led by the president of Britain's Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

"In this systematic review and meta-analysis including 32 studies, children and adolescents younger than 20 years had 44%lower odds of secondary infection with SARS-CoV-2 compared with adults 20 years and older," the analysis said.

"There is preliminary evidence that those younger than 10 to 14 years have lower susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection than adults, with adolescents appearing to have similar susceptibility to adults."

The analysis was led by Russell Viner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. For the full analysis: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.4573

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Michael Holden)

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