<span style="color: #222222;">Children younger than five years with mild to moderate COVID-19 have much higher levels of the novel coronavirus genetic material in the nose compared to older children and adults, according to a new study which raises concern about the reopening of schools and daycare centres across the world.<br />”<br />”The findings, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, shed light on the possibility that the youngest children transmit the virus as much as other age groups.<br />”<br />”According to scientists, including those from Ann &amp; Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital in the US, the ability of younger children to spread COVID-19 may have been under-recognised given the rapid and sustained closure of schools and daycare centres during the pandemic.<br />”<br />”Our analyses suggest children younger than five years with mild to moderate COVID-19 have high amounts of the SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA in their nasopharynx compared with older children and adults, the scientists wrote in the study.<br />”<br />”According to the study's lead author Taylor Heald-Sargent, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Ann &amp; Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital, this may suggest greater transmission of the virus by children than seen in adults.<br />”<br />”He added that the findings are similar to the transmission pattern seen with the respiratory syncytial virus, also known as RSV.<br />”<br />”In the study, the researchers analysed 145 cases of mild to moderate COVID-19 illness within the first week of symptom onset.<br />”<br />”Our study was not designed to prove that younger children spread COVID-19 as much as adults, but it is a possibility,Heald-Sargent said.<br />”<br />”But they added that earlier research on pediatric cases of COVID-19 pointed to a correlation between higher viral nucleic acid levels and the ability to culture infectious virus.<br />”<br />”They said the behavioral habits of young children, and the close quarters they occupy in school and day care settings raise concern for amplified transmission of the virus as public health restrictions are eased.</span><br />