Are children virus vectors?

A small new study from Chicago has found that children with Covid-19 carry just as much of the virus in their nose and throat as adults—and that those under age 5 can host up to 100 times more. If confirmed, reports Reuters.com, this finding could undermine a key assumption underpinning the reopening of schools around the world: that children don’t spread the virus as easily as their parents. The researchers examined levels of viral nucleic acid—genetic traces of the coronavirus—in 145 patients with mild or moderate symptoms. They found that viral loads in older children, ages 5 to 17, were similar to levels in adults. But among those younger than 5, the levels were often much higher. The study doesn’t prove that children can spread the virus to others. But it does suggest that scientists have a lot more to learn about transmission in children.

“I’ve heard lots of people saying, ‘Well, kids aren’t susceptible, kids don’t get infected,’” says Stacey Schultz-Cherry, a virologist at

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “This clearly shows that’s not true.”

a new study from Mount Sinai Hospital System in New York, reports CNBC.com. Conducted from February to May, the research involved 4,000 coronavirus patients with a median age of 64. Forty-six percent sustained acute kidney injury; of those, 17 percent required urgent dialysis. Strikingly, 82 percent of those affected had no history of kidney problems. Overall, more than a third of patients who survived the virus did not recover the same kidney function that they had before getting infected. Other hospitals report similar findings: Doctors working with the Centers for Disease Control say up to 50 percent of Covid-19 patients who require intensive care suffer kidney failure. The virus affects the kidneys in different ways. It can send the immune system into overdrive, damaging organs. It can trigger sepsis, which can lead to multiple organ failure. And ventilators used in treatment can reduce blood flow through the kidneys. Nephrologist Steven Coca says chronic kidney disease among Covid-19 survivors will be “the next epidemic” in the U.S.