Apr 6, 2020 - Health

CDC: Asymptomatic children could play important role in coronavirus spread

Marisa Fernandez

A 3-year-old wraps up a bike ride during the coronavirus outbreak on Monday, Washington, D.C. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Compared to adults, children with the coronavirus are less likely to be hospitalized or show symptoms like a fever, cough or shortness of breath, new U.S. data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show.

Why it matters: Those with less serious illness or who are asymptomatic likely play a large role in transmitting the disease. Social distancing is thus important for all age groups, the CDC stressed.

By the numbers: Among the 149,082 confirmed U.S. cases of COVID-19 that the CDC tracked as of April 2, 1.7% were patients under the age of 18.

73% of pediatric patients showed symptoms of fever, cough or shortness of breath, compared with 93% of adults aged 18–64.
The percentage of children hospitalized was also lower than the percentage of adults aged 18–64.
Still, severe outcomes have been reported in children, including three deaths.

The findings are largely consistent with data from China, which had previously suggested that children with COVID-19 experienced less severe and sometimes different symptoms than adults.

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CDC: Asymptomatic children could play important role in coronavirus spread

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