Precise details regarding paediatric transmission cannot be confirmed without widespread sero-surveillance, however important trends are emerging. Low case numbers in children suggest a more limited role than was initially feared. Contact tracing data from Shenzhen in China demonstrated an equivalent attack rate in children as adults, however this has been contradicted by 4 subsequent studies in Japan, Guang- zhou, Wuhan and Shanghai, and cities in close proximity to Wuhan. These have all demonstrated a significantly lower attack rate in children. This, coupled with low case numbers would suggest at least that children are less likely to acquire the disease. The role of children in passing the dis- ease to others is unknown, in particular given large numbers of asymp- tomatic cases. Notably, the China/WHO joint commission could not re- call episodes during contact tracing where transmission occurred from a child to an adult. Studies of multiple family clusters have revealed chil- dren were unlikely to be the index case, in Guangzhou, China, and inter- nationally. A SARS-CoV2 positive child in a cluster in the French alps did not transmit to anyone else, despite exposure to over 100 people.
