Lower SARS-CoV-2 household transmission in children and adolescents compared to adults.

In the COVID-19 pandemic, children were considered to play a major role in SARS-CoV-2 transmission similar to influenza. Thus, mitigation measures have been focused on children, impacting their everyday life severely. Despite this, infectivity in this age group regarding SARS-CoV-2 is not yet clarified. We performed a serology study in households with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection to evaluate virus transmission with focus on children and adolescents. Between January and July 2021, 341 minors and 650 adults from 300 households with a confirmed index case participated in the FamilyCoviDD19-study including serological assessment for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and a questionnaire on demographics, recent and ongoing symptoms, hygiene measures and comorbidities. 45 (16.3%) of all index cases were < 18 years old. Thereof, 55.6% reported COVID-19 associated symptoms, while nearly all adult index cases were symptomatic (94.8%). There was significantly less virus transmission by children and adolescents compared to adult index cases with a secondary attack rate of 0.29 vs. 0.54. With the caveat that the results do not necessarily apply to the Delta and Omicron variants, we conclude that children and adolescents are less susceptible for SARS-CoV-2 infection, more frequently show an asymptomatic course of disease and are less infective than adults.

Psychotherapeutic examination of patients with suspected chronic solvent intoxication. An overview.

A group of 13 patients, most of them house or industrial painters with strong evidence of chronic solvent intoxication were given psychotherapy, with a view to ascertaining whether psychological factors may have contributed to the signs and symptoms that had persisted after the acute manifestations had either diminished or ceased altogether. All the patients were found to have experienced severe psychic traumata during their first year of life-the preverbal period. This had resulted in defective development of language, which was reflected in a lack of words for expressing emotions; instead these were expressed nonverbally as somatic symptoms. The results of the study indicate unequivocally that in none of the 13 patients were the symptoms due to the toxic effect of solvents, all of them having a psychological rather than a somatic causation. After an analysis of the symptoms by means of an established psychotherapeutic method they diminished in severity and a number of the patients recovered completely.