Can Children Be COVID-19 Spreaders? It’s Possible, Says ICMR

New Delhi: Some evidence has emerged that children can spread coronavirus, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) informed.

According to ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava, children can be “spreaders, rather than super-spreaders”.

Only 8 per cent of children in India below 17 years are COVID-19 positive, as per official data, PTI has reported.

“Below five years, the figure would probably be less than 1 per cent,” Bhargava said in response to a question on surge in cases among children in Mizoram.

Bhargava further informed that India has not yet reported a link between Kawasaki disease and COVID-19 among children.

Kawasaki is an auto-immune disease that affects children under five years. It leads to fever, thrombocytosis, aneurysm and a condition in which arteries of the heart get dilated.

“This has been reported with COVID-19 in different parts of the world. I don’t think we have had any experience of Kawasaki and COVID-19 in India. It is a very rare condition,” Bhargava said.