SynthesisActa paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992)2020
Children are unlikely to be the main drivers of the COVID-19 pandemic - A systematic review.
Synthesis in Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 125 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
125 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 273 citations in OpenAlex.
- SARS-CoV-2 post-acute sequelae in previously hospitalised patients: systematic literature review and meta-analysis.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2023Pooled it
- Child transmission of SARS-CoV-2: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC pediatrics · 2022Pooled it
- Update on SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence: regional and worldwide.Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases · 2021Pooled it
- The Approach of Pregnant Women to Vaccination Based on a COVID-19 Systematic Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2021Pooled it
- COVID-19: Critical appraisal of the evidence.Anales de pediatria · 2021Pooled it
- Case report and systematic review suggest that children may experience similar long-term effects to adults after clinical COVID-19.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2021Pooled it
- [Infection with SARS-CoV-2 in pregnancy. Update of Information and proposed care. CNGOF].Gynecologie, obstetrique, fertilite & senologie · 2020Guideline
- Children are unlikely to be the main drivers of the COVID-19 pandemic - A systematic review.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2020Pooled it
- Roles of children, isolation measures and socioeconomic status in SARS-CoV-2 household transmission: a retrospective cohort study in a southern US city.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Long-term healthcare use of COVID-19 cases in 2020: a two-year follow-up in Stockholm, Sweden.Annals of medicine · 2025Article
- Effect of vaccinations and school restrictions on the spread of COVID-19 in different age groups in Germany.Infectious Disease Modelling · 2024Article
- Clinical Manifestations of Acute COVID-19 in Previously Healthy Pediatric Patients Diagnosed by Rapid Antigen Screening in a Community-Based, Outpatient Primary Care Pediatrics Practice.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- The individual and ecological characteristics of parental COVID-19 vaccination decisions.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence in a Berlin Kindergarten Environment: A Cross-Sectional Study, September 2021.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- High SARS-CoV-2 secondary infection rates in households with children in Georgia, United States, Fall 2020-Winter 2021.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Ventilation during COVID-19 in a school for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).PloS one · 2024Article
- Potential determinants of parental hesitancy to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 infection: a cross-sectional investigation.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Airborne SARS-CoV-2 is more frequently detected in environments related to children and elderly but likely non-infectious, Norway, 2022.Virology journal · 2023Article
- A descriptive study of COVID-19 cases in primary and secondary schools in the Maltese islands: a nationwide experience.European journal of public health · 2023Article
- Disagreement among experts about public health decision making: is it polarisation and does it matter?BMJ global health · 2023Review
65 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
aimMany countries have closed schools and kindergartens to minimise COVID-19, but the role that children play in disease transmission is unclear.
methodsA systematic literature review of the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases and medRxiv/bioRxiv preprint servers to 11 May 2020 identified published and unpublished papers on COVID-19 transmission by children.
resultsWe identified 700 scientific papers and letters and 47 full texts were studied in detail. Children accounted for a small fraction of COVID-19 cases and mostly had social contacts with peers or parents, rather than older people at risk of severe disease. Data on viral loads were scarce, but indicated that children may have lower levels than adults, partly because they often have fewer symptoms, and this should decrease the transmission risk. Household transmission studies showed that children were rarely the index case and case studies suggested that children with COVID-19 seldom caused outbreaks. However, it is highly likely that children can transmit the SARS-COV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, and even asymptomatic children can have viral loads.
conclusionChildren are unlikely to be the main drivers of the pandemic. Opening up schools and kindergartens is unlikely to impact COVID-19 mortality rates in older people.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.