Pharmaceutical and public health interventions continue to be important to limit transmission of the virus and to mitigate severe disease in this age group.

A new study led by researchers at the University of Oxford’s Department of Computer Science investigated this using data from US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention databases.

According to the researchers, these results suggest that, with variants of COVID-19 continuing to circulate, public health measures such as vaccinations, staying home when sick, and ventilation still have an important role to play in limiting transmission of the virus and mitigating severe disease in children and young people.

Fortunately, we now have an array of effective tools to minimize risk, from building ventilation to air purifiers to safe vaccines.

Assistant Professor Robbie M. Parks of Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, a co-author of the study, said: “If you look at infectious diseases in children in the US historically, in the period before vaccines became available, hepatitis A, rotavirus, rubella, and measles were all major causes of death.

We need mitigations (e.g., ventilation, air cleaning) to protect children from infection, alongside accessible vaccination to reduce the risk from severe disease.”