Judith Hall MD, BC Children’s Hospital, University of British Columbia.Eyal Grunebaum MD, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto.Dominique Cousineau MD, CHU Sainte-Justine, Université de Montréal.Christine Chambers PhD, Dalhousie University.Susanne Benseler MD PhD, Alberta Children’s Hospital, University of Calgary.Mona Nemer PhD, Chief Science Advisor (Chair).In evaluating the appropriateness of measures that target children, from school to health interventions, risk assessment should take into account evolving science and include pediatric, infectious disease, educational and child development experts. At the same time, the direct and indirect impacts of the public health measures resulting from the pandemic on children require attention. This will help document children’s susceptibility to infection and confirm their role in its transmission. All opportunities to collect better and broader data about COVID-19 in children should be leveraged, including prevalence studies and systematic observations in day camps, daycare facilities and schools. In its analysis, the task force concluded that there is an urgency to fill the large knowledge gap on the pathophysiology of COVID-19 in children through focused research.
Many science gaps remain for fully understanding COVID-19 in children that should be urgently addressed through research and systematic data gathering.Some public health measures aimed at limiting disease spread have unintended negative consequences on the development and wellbeing of children.It is not possible at present to establish the age cut-off when children’s COVID-19 parameters (infectivity and transmission) become similar to those of adults.Younger children do not appear to be important vectors for COVID-19 transmission unlike their role in the transmission of the seasonal influenza.The reasons behind this age-dependent difference are not clear yet. Younger children (up to 10 years of age) seem to have lower infection rates than older children.Children are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection but the disease is generally milder in children than in older adults for reasons that have not yet been identified.This report is based on analysis of published research and observational data as well as information embedded in collective expertise. To help answer the charge, the CSA convened a task force of leading scientists and clinical experts including practicing physicians with first hand knowledge of COVID-19 management in pediatric settings. How the disease manifests in children and whether they contribute to its spread are important questions that directly impact school and daycare openings, health system preparedness and restarting the economy. The Chief Science Advisor (CSA) was asked by the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry to provide guidance on the science concerning children as vectors for the spread of COVID-19. Nonetheless, there are emerging concerns that the health risks to children and their role in the transmission of the disease may have been overestimated while the impact of the social measures on their well-being may have been underevaluated. Children form a unique population that may have different infectivity and role in disease transmission compared to adults.Īt the time of writing this report, fewer COVID-19 cases have been reported in children, possibly because they were less exposed due to the public health measures or because diagnostic testing strategies prioritized symptomatic individuals and their contacts. Much has been learned since on the virus and the illness it causes, COVID-19, but many knowledge gaps persist on the prevalence, clinical presentation and transmission of COVID-19 in children. Report of a special task force led by the Chief Science Advisor of Canadaįor the past six months, the world has been dealing with an unprecedented pandemic caused by a new corona virus: SARS-CoV-2.
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