The largest study ever conducted of the COVID-19 infection rate in Canadian youth will be run out of Montreal.
The nationwide study announced Thursday is aimed at better understanding the infection rate in young children and teenagers, an aspect of the pandemic that is little understood because the vast majority of COVID-19 cases were benign or asymptomatic.
Routine laboratory testing for COVID-19 has been greatly reduced in much of the country, which contributes to a lack of data.
“It’s a way to examine what is happening at the community level,” said study co-ordinator Dr. Caroline Quach-Thanh, pediatrician and microbiologist at CHU Ste-Justine Hospital. “It will also help us to make public health decisions in terms of recommending vaccinations and so on.”
Five times over the course of next year, about 7,200 samples will be obtained and tested as part of the study. The analyses will be carried out on three age groups within the newborn-18 demographic.
The study will seek to determine the rate of infection due to exposure and vaccination, the difference in the infection rate between different age groups and in different parts of Canada as well as the association between serological measures and trends linked to viral transmission and vaccination rates, Quach said.
The preliminary results of the study are expected at the end of the year.
The study is receiving $2.6 million in funding from the federal government and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
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