Study shows children could be 'super-spreaders;' others say there haven't been enough tests conducted

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A prominent Nashville doctor is raising concerns highlighted in a new study about kids and COVID-19. The study reveals how kids may spread the disease even easier than adults.

The study released Thursday in the journal "Pediatrics" from the American Medical Association says, when compared to adults, young children infected with COVID-19 had between 10 and 100 times a greater amount of the virus in their nose and throat.

Meharry Medical College President Dr. James Hildreth tweeted the study Thursday, saying "Implication is clear: Children could potentially initiate super-spreader events in re-opened schools."

"Given this data, given what we know about a child's role in transmitting other respiratory viruses, unless there’s proof otherwise, the safest thing is to assume children can also transmit this respiratory virus," Dr. Tina Hartert with Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt told NewsChannel 5.

Doctors say studies haven’t yet had the opportunity to see how kids can spread the coronavirus because kids have been home and schools have been closed.

"We’ve got to get the spread of the virus down to a low level in the community before its safe to open schools and then we need to put in place things that work to prevent spread within those schools," Hartert said.

With schools set to reopen, we may soon see the impact of COVID-19 on kids — not in a study, but in real life.