Viral infectivity in pediatric SARS-CoV-2 clinical samples does not vary by age

During the early months of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, notable uncertainty emerged regarding the role of children in transmission dynamics 1. With time, it became more clear that children were susceptible to infection with SARS-CoV-2, but that the vast majority of children experienced mild symptoms with lower incidence of severe disease 2. This pattern remained consistent despite the later emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants, including Delta and Omicron, even among children <5 ineligible for vaccination3. The relative lack of severe disease in the pediatric population raised questions regarding viral kinetics and infectivity in children versus adults.