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WEDNESDAY, Sept. 30, 2020 (HealthDay News) — The incidence of COVID-19 was higher in adolescents than among children during May to September 2020, according to research published in the Sept. 28 early-release issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Rebecca T. Leeb, Ph.D., from the CDC COVID-19 Response Team, and colleagues analyzed trends in weekly COVID-19 incidence during March 1 to Sept. 19, 2020, among 277,285 laboratory-confirmed cases in U.S. school-aged children.<\/p>\n
The researchers found that the average weekly incidence (cases per 100,000 children) during May to September 2020 was higher in adolescents aged 12 to 17 years than among children aged 5 to 11 years (37.4 versus 19.0). COVID-19 indicators peaked during July 2020 in school-aged children, with an increase in the weekly percentage of positive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) test results from 10 to 14 percent on May 31 to July 5, 2020. From May 31 to July 12, there was an increase in SARS-CoV-2 test volume from 100,981 to 322,227. An increase in COVID-19 incidence was observed from 13.8 to 37.9 per 100,000 on May 31 and July 19. Overall, 16, 27, and 28 percent of school-aged children who were hospitalized, admitted to an intensive care unit, and died, respectively, had at least one underlying medical condition.<\/p>\n
“These findings can provide a baseline for monitoring national trends,” the authors write. “Monitoring at the local-level could inform decision-makers about which mitigation strategies are most effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19 in schools and communities.”<\/p>\n