(Reuters) – The National Institutes Of Health said on Monday it has started enrolling participants in a study to find out the infection rate of COVID-19, caused by the new coronavirus, in children and their families in the United States.
The government-funded study, which will be conducted completely remotely, looks to determine how many children infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, develop symptoms of the disease.
The study also looks to determine whether there are differences in the rates of infection between children who have asthma or other allergic conditions and children who do not.
“One interesting feature of this novel coronavirus pandemic is that very few children have become sick with COVID-19 compared to adults,” said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.
Fauci said the study will determine if this is because children are resistant to the infection, or because they are infected but do not develop symptoms. (https://bit.ly/2W0Y7HH)
The study, called Human Epidemiology and Response to SARS-CoV-2, or HEROS, will enroll 6,000 people from 2,000 families already participating in NIH-funded pediatric research studies in 11 cities, the agency said.
(Reporting by Vishwadha Chander in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
