警惕！最新研究發(fā)現(xiàn)新冠病毒對兒童很不友好，復課需謹慎
在判斷兒童是否容易感染、傳播新冠肺炎時，如果只看表象可能會得到錯誤的結論。
芝加哥兒科醫(yī)院和西北大學的研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，與年齡較大的兒童、青少年和成人相比，5歲以下輕、中度新冠肺炎患兒體內(nèi)的新冠病毒濃度更高。
而就在這項發(fā)現(xiàn)公布之際，世界各地的父母、教育工作者和政策制定者還在就“重新開放日托中心和學校是否安全”這一問題爭論不休。
7月30日發(fā)表于美國醫(yī)學會兒科雜志《JAMA Pediatrics》上的這項研究并未對兒童傳播病毒的幾率進行測試，然而研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，盡管大多數(shù)兒童的癥狀相對較輕，但他們感染和傳播新冠病毒的幾率和成年人幾乎一樣，甚或更高。
該報告的第一作者、芝加哥盧里兒童醫(yī)院小兒傳染病專家、西北大學芬伯格醫(yī)學院兒科學助理教授泰勒·希爾德·薩金特說：“我們在談論學校復課問題時經(jīng)常會談到這樣一個話題，即，兒童的癥狀比較輕微，是不是意味著兒童攜帶的病毒量就比較少？”
她告訴《財富》雜志：“我們的數(shù)據(jù)并不支持這一觀點。因此，我們不能認為兒童不會傳播新冠病毒。”
該研究使用的臨床數(shù)據(jù)來自芝加哥145名處于治療期間的輕、中癥新冠患者，這些患者都是在研究開始前1個禮拜開始出現(xiàn)相關癥狀的。他們被大致分為三組：5歲以下兒童，5歲至18歲的兒童及青少年，以及18歲至65歲的成年人，研究排除了重癥患者、無癥狀感染者以及癥狀出現(xiàn)超過一周或無法追蹤癥狀的患者。
研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，受試患者的鼻拭子檢測結果顯示，5歲以下兒童的病毒攜帶量“在數(shù)據(jù)上顯著多于”年齡較大的兒童和成人。
希爾德·薩金特稱，她與合作作者是在臨床觀察中首次發(fā)現(xiàn)了這一現(xiàn)象，當時她們注意到，有些患兒的癥狀并不特別嚴重，但鼻拭子的病毒含量卻異常高。
“這一結果讓我們頗為意外?！彼a充說。
她認為，對于大多數(shù)兒童的感染途徑、免疫系統(tǒng)反應、病毒傳播機理還需做進一步研究。此外，雖然幼兒一般更容易受到呼吸道感染的影響，但其在感染新冠肺炎時的癥狀卻往往沒有成人嚴重。
研究稱，由于學校和日托服務在封城初期即已關閉，所以兒童相較成人接觸病毒的機會要小一些。也有其他團隊對這一問題進行了研究，但結論各不相同。
希爾德·薩金特表示，即使有了新數(shù)據(jù)，學校復課、日托重啟“也是一項復雜的任務，需要謹慎推進”。但也有兒科醫(yī)生警告稱，學校長期放假和封城對兒童心理健康、教育和發(fā)展的影響可能要比疫情本身造成的影響大得多，這也讓是否應該全面復課的爭議更趨復雜化。（財富中文網(wǎng)）
譯者：梁宇
審校：夏林
在判斷兒童是否容易感染、傳播新冠肺炎時，如果只看表象可能會得到錯誤的結論。
芝加哥兒科醫(yī)院和西北大學的研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，與年齡較大的兒童、青少年和成人相比，5歲以下輕、中度新冠肺炎患兒體內(nèi)的新冠病毒濃度更高。
而就在這項發(fā)現(xiàn)公布之際，世界各地的父母、教育工作者和政策制定者還在就“重新開放日托中心和學校是否安全”這一問題爭論不休。
7月30日發(fā)表于美國醫(yī)學會兒科雜志《JAMA Pediatrics》上的這項研究并未對兒童傳播病毒的幾率進行測試，然而研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，盡管大多數(shù)兒童的癥狀相對較輕，但他們感染和傳播新冠病毒的幾率和成年人幾乎一樣，甚或更高。
該報告的第一作者、芝加哥盧里兒童醫(yī)院小兒傳染病專家、西北大學芬伯格醫(yī)學院兒科學助理教授泰勒·希爾德·薩金特說：“我們在談論學校復課問題時經(jīng)常會談到這樣一個話題，即，兒童的癥狀比較輕微，是不是意味著兒童攜帶的病毒量就比較少？”
她告訴《財富》雜志：“我們的數(shù)據(jù)并不支持這一觀點。因此，我們不能認為兒童不會傳播新冠病毒?！?/p>
該研究使用的臨床數(shù)據(jù)來自芝加哥145名處于治療期間的輕、中癥新冠患者，這些患者都是在研究開始前1個禮拜開始出現(xiàn)相關癥狀的。他們被大致分為三組：5歲以下兒童，5歲至18歲的兒童及青少年，以及18歲至65歲的成年人，研究排除了重癥患者、無癥狀感染者以及癥狀出現(xiàn)超過一周或無法追蹤癥狀的患者。
研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，受試患者的鼻拭子檢測結果顯示，5歲以下兒童的病毒攜帶量“在數(shù)據(jù)上顯著多于”年齡較大的兒童和成人。
希爾德·薩金特稱，她與合作作者是在臨床觀察中首次發(fā)現(xiàn)了這一現(xiàn)象，當時她們注意到，有些患兒的癥狀并不特別嚴重，但鼻拭子的病毒含量卻異常高。
“這一結果讓我們頗為意外?！彼a充說。
她認為，對于大多數(shù)兒童的感染途徑、免疫系統(tǒng)反應、病毒傳播機理還需做進一步研究。此外，雖然幼兒一般更容易受到呼吸道感染的影響，但其在感染新冠肺炎時的癥狀卻往往沒有成人嚴重。
研究稱，由于學校和日托服務在封城初期即已關閉，所以兒童相較成人接觸病毒的機會要小一些。也有其他團隊對這一問題進行了研究，但結論各不相同。
希爾德·薩金特表示，即使有了新數(shù)據(jù)，學校復課、日托重啟“也是一項復雜的任務，需要謹慎推進”。但也有兒科醫(yī)生警告稱，學校長期放假和封城對兒童心理健康、教育和發(fā)展的影響可能要比疫情本身造成的影響大得多，這也讓是否應該全面復課的爭議更趨復雜化。（財富中文網(wǎng)）
譯者：梁宇
審校：夏林
When it comes to the coronavirus and children, looks may be deceiving.
In a study of children under five who show mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19, those kids were found to contain higher concentrations of the virus compared to older children, teens and adults, according to researchers at a Chicago pediatric hospital and Northwestern University.
The findings come as parents, educators and policymakers around the world grapple with the question of whether it's safe to reopen day-care centers and schools in the coming weeks.
The study, which was released Thursday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, did not test the transmission rate of children—but does raise the prospect that children could be just as, or even more, prone to COVID infection and transmission than adults, although symptoms in the vast majority of children are comparably milder, the researchers found.
"One of the things that’s come up in the whole school reopening discussion, is: since kids are less sick, is it because they have less of the virus?," said Taylor Heald-Sargent, the lead author and a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, and assistant professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.
"And our data does not support that,” she told Fortune.As a result, "we can't assume that kids aren't able to spread the virus."
The study used clinical data collected during the treatment of 145 COVID-19 patients in Chicago with mild to moderate symptoms, who had begun to display those symptoms over the previous week.The sample was roughly divided into three equal groups: children under five, children between five and 18, and adults from 18 to 65.The sample excluded patients who were seriously ill, asymptomatic patients, and patients whose symptoms had been present for more than a week, or whose symptoms couldn't be tracked.
Nasal swabs taken from those patients indicated that the viral load in children under five was "statistically significant" compared to older children and adults, the paper found.
The trend was first noticed during clinical observations, Heald-Sargent said, when she and her co-authors first noticed that nasal samples from kids who were not particularly ill contained unusually high levels of the virus.
"We were surprised," she added.
There's still much to be learned about how most children become infected with the virus, how their immune systems respond to COVID-19, and how they transmit it, she added.What's better understood is that the symptoms shown in young children tend to be less severe than those of adults—that's despite the fact that young children are broadly more vulnerable to respiratory infections at a younger age.
The study also warns that because schools and day-care closed early in the lockdown, children broadly were less exposed to the virus than adults.Other studies have also tackled this observation—with mixed results.
Even with the new data, Heald-Sargent herself warns that reopening schools and day-cares is a "complex and nuanced" subject.Other pediatricians have warned that the impacts on children's mental health, education, and development could be damaged far more by long breaks from school and time spent in lockdown than by the virus itself, complicating the arguments for and against a great reopening.
