Chennai: Most kids are likely to be asymptomatic with the Covid-19 infection, found a study in Canada.
According to this new report published in the journal CMAJ, more than one-third of kids infected with the novel Coronavirus, do not show any symptoms.
It confirms that the children diagnosed may represent just a fraction of those infected.
The research analysed results for 2,463 children in Alberta, Canada, who were tested during the first wave of the pandemic – March to September – for the infection.
Finlay McAlister, a co-author of the study from the University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry in Canada, said, “The concern from a public health perspective is that there is probably a lot of Covid-19 circulating in the community that people don’t even realise”.
When we see reports of 1,200 new cases per day in the province of Alberta, that’s likely just the tip of the iceberg- there are likely many people who don’t know they have the disease and are potentially spreading it, he said.
Of the 2,463 children, 1,987 had a positive test result for and 476 had a negative result, and of those who tested positive, 714- about 36 per cent –reported being asymptomatic.
Unfortunately, these children can spread the virus unintentionally. The researchers also found that cough, runny nose and sore throat were three of the most common symptoms among children.
However, they said these symptoms were slightly more common among those with negative results, and therefore not predictive of a positive test.
“Of course, kids are at risk of contracting many different viruses, so the covid-specific symptoms are actually more things like loss of taste and smell, headache, fever, and nausea and vomiting, not runny nose, a cough and sore throat”, McAlister said.