What we know about coronavirus risks to school age children

As coronavirus cases spike, most parents are wondering whether it's safe to send their children back to school. But with most of the research and testing geared toward adults, the answer is complicated.

While some parents are eager to get back to some sort of normalcy, others are fearful their children might get exposed to infections.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued steps to keep children safe when schools reopen, including placing desks six feet apart, ensuring children wear face coverings and the closure of communal areas like dining rooms and playgrounds.

Children also test positive for coronavirus -- there's no question about that. And while they don't get as sick as adults, they can still become dangerously ill, experts say.

"We shouldn't be complacent and think that if a child contracts coronavirus all will be fine. Chances are all will be fine, but we just don't know. This is particularly true for children who have underlying conditions, such as obesity or lung disease," said Elizabeth Cohen, CNN's senior medical correspondent.

But children are not the only concern when schools reopen. With nearly a third of teachers nationwide over age 50, they are more vulnerable to fatal infections. Asymptomatic transmission of the virus is a major concern -- and the teachers can then pass the disease to more vulnerable people. A surge in schools can translate into a broader uptick a few weeks later.

"As any parent knows, children are little disease vectors. We don't know precisely how effective children are at passing on the virus that causes Covid- 19, but it's a big concern," Cohen said. "Also, while children don't get as sick from Covid-19 as adults do, they can become seriously ill. We should not be lulled into thinking children are immune to Covid-19."

Children have been known to get a whole set of different symptoms -adding to the uncertainty of the virus that has killed more than 133,000 people nationwide. The varying symptoms make it especially harder to pinpoint.

In the United States and the United Kingdom, hospitalized children between ages 2 and 15 had a condition doctors called multisystem inflammatory syndrome. The symptoms are similar to toxic shock syndrome and Kawasaki disease, which cause inflammation in the walls of blood vessels.

Coronavirus causes a wide variety of symptoms in children, according to a study published in an American Academy of Pediatrics journal.

In that study, Dr. Rabia Agha and colleagues from Maimonides Children's General Hospital in Brooklyn studied 22 children with coronavirus. They found most did not have classic symptoms.

It's been about six months since coronavirus started ravaging the world, and health officials are learning as they go along. And while numerous tests have been conducted to get more insight on the pathogen, not many have been focused on pediatric cases. (CNN)