- A new study indicates that the people most likely to spread the new coronavirus are young and middle-aged adults.
- The study found that people aged 20 to 49 years were responsible for more than 70% of the transmission of COVID-19 in the United States. But most people with severe and life-threatening COVID-19 are over 50.
- Additional mitigation measures may be needed to reduce transmission in outbreaks, including vaccinating younger age groups who are more likely to spread the disease.
The number of daily coronavirus cases has been dropping for a few weeks in the United States and other countries that experienced massive spikes in late 2020, just as vaccination campaigns are increasing. But the virus is still spreading at alarming rates. America’s COVID-19 infection curve may finally be pointing down, but the country is still registering more than 120,000 infections a day. In addition, three new strains of coronavirus are spreading rapidly, including mutations in the UK, South Africa and Brazil. The South African version can prevent the action of neutralizing antibodies from the previous COVID-19 and favor reinfection, which means that the mutation can also reduce the vaccine’s effectiveness.
These mutations can always fuel new waves if health measures are not followed and if immunization campaigns cannot be expanded. The latest discovery takes us to the same point, outlining the measures that should be taken with the age group that is largely responsible for the dissemination of COVID-19.
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The CDC just explained how most people are likely to get COVID-19. They will contract the disease when they are less than two meters away from an infected person. When that person coughs, sneezes or simply speaks and breathes, droplets and aerosols can be released into the air and infect other people.
Researchers in the Department of Mathematics at Imperial College London have now identified the most likely group of people to disperse these virus-laden particles.
According to the new study published in Science, it is people between the ages of 20 and 49 who are responsible for at least 70% of coronavirus transmission in the United States. The scientists found that schoolchildren up to 19 years old contributed only 15% of the transmission of COVID-19. The study also indicates that the age group most impacted was that of people over 50, who recorded the highest number of deaths during the late summer and autumn of 2020.
“It addresses this underlying false narrative … that if you protect the most vulnerable, you can let the virus run wild,” said Dr. John Brownstein ABC news. “If you allow this to happen in an unbridled way in the younger age groups, it will still affect the elderly and vulnerable groups. Brownstein is an epidemiologist at Children’s Hospital in Boston and was not involved in the research.
The researchers relied on mathematical and mobility data to model the transmission of COVID-19 and found that the movement of young and middle-aged adults is the main driver of infections.
“Certain age groups, like young adults, were letting their guard down,” said Brownstein. “[The report] puts more responsibility on those in younger age groups who were trying to live a normal life and had a little COVID fatigue. “
The health expert also addressed the reopening of schools, saying the report indicates that children are not the main cause of infections.
This new study also provides suggestions on how to mitigate new outbreaks. “In places where new highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 strains have not yet been established, additional interventions among adults aged 20 to 49, such as mass vaccination with transmission blocking vaccines, can bring resurgent COVID-19 epidemics under control and avoid deaths ”, wrote the researchers.
COVID-19 vaccines are currently in short supply, so only certain categories of people qualify for them in most places. Young and middle-aged adults may still have to wait to become eligible, unless governments make changes to vaccination protocols. As for the “additional interventions” that can reduce the risk of transmission, they remain the same, regardless of mutations. Facial masks, social distance, frequent hand washing, adequate ventilation of internal spaces and avoiding internal agglomerations have been shown to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.
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Chris Smith started writing about gadgets as a hobby and, before he knew it, was already sharing his views on technology with readers around the world. Whenever he’s not writing about gadgets, he miserably fails to stay away from them, although he tries desperately. But this is not necessarily a bad thing.