OREANDA-NEWS. Scientists of Princeton University, Johns Hopkins University and University of California have found that children and young people, who make up only a small percentage of those infected, played an important role in the spread of coronavirus around the world. This is stated in an article published in the journal Science.

Researchers analyzed 85 thousand cases of COVID-19 infection among 575 thousand people in two states in southeast India. They found that among those infected, 71 % did not infect anyone, while 8 % of them caused 60 % of new infections. Scientists named children and young people as the main distributors of coronavirus, which account for a third of the cases of COVID-19 considered.

Specialists also found that in all age groups, the highest chance of contracting SARS-CoV-2 was from a person of the same age. This risk was found to be the largest among children and young people.