French pediatrics Society vice-president professor Robert Cohen has carried out a study in Île-de-France with 27 pediatricians from April 14 to May 12 on 605 children. Results of this inquiry tend to show that unlike what we thought until then, children might not ultimately be silent contaminators, but might have an extremely limited impact on the spread of covid-19. According to Robert Cohen, children until 15 years old could be actually very little contagious.
The study carried out by the professor tends to show that children do not transmit the virus to adults. It even seems that “nine cases in ten, sick adults contaminate children and not the other way around”. He says “serological tests show that 10% of children in Île-de-France, the most impacted region, have had coronavirus” which lets us think that the youngest can catch the virus but rarely transmit it.
The professor thinks that if closing schools was necessary to protect not only children but also “adults around them”, he is for making the health protocol softer he judges “inapplicable” and unhuman: “Not comforting a child by hugging them? Can you realize of unhuman this is?”.
According to the pediatrician, France should take inspiration from the Netherlands. “They first say to reinforce hand washing, and so much the better, because it has always been catastrophic” before adding “we need children from the same class to play together again. Rules must be made softer than for adults since we know they are less contagious”.
As for an eventual risk of transmission of the virus to grand-parents, more fragile, the doctor explains that children can spend time with their grandparents again “on some conditions, such as being not too many in the room and limit hugs”. He adds that “children are less dangerous for their grandparents than their parents themselves”.
As for reasons for this immunity, the professor names several causes possible. It seems that they have “fewer receptors of the virus on their nose mucous membranes […], children might also be more protected because they already caught other coronavirus: this is cross immunity”.
