COVID-19 Pandemic: Influence of Schools, Age Groups, and Virus Variants in Italy.
Viruses
; 13(7)2021 06 29.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1289030
ABSTRACT
The estimated smooth curve of the percentage of subjects positive to SARS-CoV-2 started decreasing in Italy at the beginning of January 2021, due to the government containment measures undertaken from Christmas until 7 January. Approximately two weeks after releasing the measures, the curve stopped to decrease and remained approximately constant for four weeks to increase again in the middle of February. This epidemic phase had a public health care impact since, from the beginning of the fourth week of February, the curve of the intensive care unit's occupancy started to grow. This wave of infection was characterized by the presence of new virus variants, with a higher than 80% dominance of the so-called "English" variant, since 15 April. School activities in Italy started at different times from 7 January until 8 February, depending on every region's decision. Our present data on the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 in different age groups in Italy are in agreement with literature reports showing that subjects older than 10 years are involved in virus transmission. More importantly, we provide evidence to support the hypothesis that also individuals of age 0-9 years can significantly contribute to the spread of SARS-CoV-2.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Schools
/
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Variants
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Humans
/
Infant
/
Middle aged
/
Infant, Newborn
/
Young adult
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
English
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
V13071269
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