Culture-Competent SARS-CoV-2 in Nasopharynx of Symptomatic Neonates, Children, and Adolescents

Abstract

Children do not seem to drive transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We isolated culture-competent virus in vitro from 12 (52%) of 23 SARS-CoV-2-infected children; the youngest was 7 days old. Our findings show that symptomatic neonates, children, and teenagers shed infectious SARS-CoV-2, suggesting that transmission from them is plausible.

Keywords: 2019 novel coronavirus disease; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Switzerland; adolescents; children; coronavirus disease; neonates; respiratory diseases; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; viral shedding; viruses; zoonoses.

Figure

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 initial RNA copy numbers from nasopharyngeal swabs of culture-negative and culture-positive specimens from children <16 years of age, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland, January 25–March 31, 2020. Thick horizontal bars indicate median RNA; thin horizontal bars indicate interquartile range. Asterisk (*) indicates specimen collected outside the institution, suggesting a longer time to freezing at –80°C; dagger (†) indicates specimen with ≈48 hours from specimen collection to freezing at –80°C.