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New Science publication provides a detailed look at transmission and control of COVID-19 in India

Study dispels notion that children are at limited risk of infection

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A new publication by UC Berkeley School of Public Health Assistant Professor Joseph Lewnard, working with the health ministries of the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and the independent public health research organization Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP), provides the most detailed view to date into SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) dynamics in low- and middle-income country settings. The analysis records for more than 575,000 individuals exposed to nearly 85,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases dispels previous notions that children are at limited risk of acquiring or transmitting infection. The authors estimate an overall case fatality ratio of 2%—ranging from 0.05% among children to 17% for those over 85 years old—and identify lasting reductions in transmission after India initiated its country-wide lockdown in March. The work, published in Science, is part of an ongoing collaboration between Lewnard, CDDEP, and state health ministries within India informing outbreak response measures in that country.

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