Reconsidering Assumptions of Adolescent and Young Adult Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Transmission Dynamics. (7th September 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Guilamo-Ramos, Vincent; Benzekri, Adam; Thimm-Kaiser, Marco; Hidalgo, Andrew; Perlman, David C
• Is Part Of: Clinical infectious diseases. Volume 73:Supplement 2(2021)
• Page Start: S146
• Page End: S163
• Publication Date: 2020-09-07
• Subjects: adolescents and young adults -- SARS-CoV-2 transmission -- COVID-19 pandemic; Communicable diseases -- Periodicals; 616.905
• DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciaa1348
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1058-4838

Abstract

Abstract: Evidence regarding the important role of adolescents and young adults (AYA) in accelerating and sustaining coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreaks is growing. Furthermore, data suggest that 2 known factors that contribute to high severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmissibility—presymptomatic transmission and asymptomatic case presentations—may be amplified in AYA. However, AYA have not been prioritized as a key population in the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Policy decisions that limit public health attention to AYA and are driven by the assumption of insignificant forward transmission from AYA pose a risk of inadvertent reinvigoration of local transmission dynamics. In this viewpoint, we highlight evidence regarding the increased potential of AYA to transmit SARS-CoV-2 that, to date, has received little attention, discuss adolescent and young adult–specific considerations for future COVID-19 control measures, and provide applied programmatic suggestions.