COVID-19 infection in children and young adults higher than reported cases, B.C. study suggests
Preliminary findings from a B.C. study which set out to get a clearer picture of the number of COVID-19 infections in children and young adults has found rates around two to three times higher than the officially reported cases.
The SPRING study is being conducted by researchers at the Vaccine Evaluation Center at BC Children’s Hospital, and first began recruiting participants aged 24 and younger late last year. Center director Dr. Manish Sadarangani told CTV News Vancouver on Thursday they ended up with just over 2,500 participants.
“What we found was in those people who are under 20, around four per cent, so around one in 25 people, had evidence of antibodies in their blood, so had evidence of a previous COVID-19 infection,” he said, and added the results were pretty similar across the younger age groups: under five, five to nine, 10 to 14, and 15 to 19.
“The 20 to 24 year olds, it was a little bit higher, sort of six to seven per cent.”
Dr. Sadarangani said their data showed an infection rate among those younger age groups that was higher than the number of cases reported from COVID-19 testing.
“If we look at the data available through the Ministry of Health and through (BC Centre for Disease Control) based on the testing that gets done when people are sick with COVID-19, so that’s around two to three times higher than those numbers,” he said. “We were expecting it to be higher. We know that not everyone gets tested. We know that some people don’t have any symptoms and wouldn’t get tested.”
Those who volunteered for the study were sent a home test kit to collect a finger or heel prick blood sample, depending on the age of the participant. The blood is blotted onto a card and then sent in for analysis. All the samples for the first phase were collected before those age groups became eligible for vaccination.
Dr. Sadarangani said it may be that some of the cases not detected by routine testing could have had lower amounts of virus, leading to an asymptomatic infection, or very mild symptoms.
“It’s still unclear what role these people play in sort of transmission in general,” he said. “We’re currently working with some of the modellers here in B.C. to combine these data with the other data that’s available to try to get a better understanding of how that fits into the models.”
He added they also don’t know what the risk of re-infection may be for those mild or asymptomatic cases.
“We’ve been sharing our data both within B.C., but also nationally with various policy makers and various organizations that make recommendations, so they can combine that with other information that’s available to them,” he said. “I think it’s just an additional piece of information, it’s an additional piece of the puzzle.”
Researchers are now conducting a deeper analysis of the preliminary findings from the first phase of the study. Dr. Sadarangani said the results are expected in the next couple of weeks, and will be shared with public health agencies.
“We can try to identify where the higher risk populations may be,” he said. “We would expect that it will probably be similar to what we already know from the testing data, but you never know what you’re going to find, so I think we have to do the analysis and see what we get.”
The study is now recruiting again for its second phase. Dr. Sadarangani said they are hoping for another 2,500 participants.
‘We’ve got about 1,500, so we’re still looking for around another 1,000 people, and we ideally really want to get these in as soon as possible, but definitely before the vaccine program extends to this paediatric age group,” he said. “What our test can’t easily do is distinguish people who have antibodies from vaccination and people who have antibodies from infection.”
Dr. Sadarangani said they are also eventually planning to study the immune response from the COVID-19 vaccine in 12 to 24 year olds.
“We had all of the infrastructure and everything in place to be able to look at that,” he said. “We decided to take advantage of the setup that we had to look at those vaccine responses.”
Anyone who wants to learn more about participating in the SPRING study can find details online.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A step forward': New screening criteria for sperm donors takes effect
Canadians looking to grow their families with the assistance of sperm or egg donations should soon have more options for donors as the federal health agency does away with longstanding restrictions criticized as discriminatory.
What is whooping cough and should Canadians be concerned as Europe declares outbreak?
There is currently a whooping cough epidemic in Europe, with 10 times as many cases compared to the previous two years. While an outbreak has not been declared nationwide in Canada, whooping cough is regularly detected in the country.
Ontario Provincial Police arrest 64 suspects in child sexual exploitation investigation
Ontario Provincial Police say 64 suspects are facing a combined 348 charges in connection with a series of child sexual exploitation investigations that spanned the province.
Ippei Mizuhara, ex-interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani, pleads guilty in sports betting case
The former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud Wednesday in a sports betting case where prosecutors allege he stole US$16 million from the Japanese baseball player to pay off debts.
Steve Albini, legendary producer for Nirvana, the Pixies and an alternative rock pioneer, dies at 61
Steve Albini, an alternative rock pioneer and legendary producer who shaped the musical landscape through his work with Nirvana, the Pixies, PJ Harvey and more, has died. He was 61.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his head more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
Watch fighter jet pilots pummel fake enemy ship off coast of Philippines
The United States and Philippines held annual joint-training drills just off the Southeast Asian nation’s western coast on Wednesday. Military forces sunk a 'mock' enemy warship – the BRP Lake Caliraya, which was a decommissioned tanker made in China.
'Summer of discontent': Federal unions vow to fight new 3-day a week office mandate
Federal unions are launching legal challenges and encouraging public sector workers to file "tens of thousands" of grievances over the new mandate requiring federal workers to return to the office at least three days a week in the fall.