Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in young children attending day-care centres in Belgium, May 2020 to February 2022

Euro Surveill. 2022 May;27(21):2200380. doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.21.2200380.

Abstract

Presence of SARS-CoV-2 was monitored in nasopharyngeal samples from young children aged 6-30 months attending day-care centres (DCCs) in Belgium from May 2020-February 2022. SARS-CoV-2 carriage among DCC children was only detected from November 2021, after emergence of Delta and Omicron variants, in 9 of the 42 DCCs screened. In only one DCC, two children tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 at the same sampling time point, suggesting limited transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in Belgian DCCs among young children during the studied period.

Keywords: Delta; Omicron; SARS-CoV-2; carriage.

MeSH terms

  • Belgium / epidemiology
  • COVID-19*
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Humans
  • SARS-CoV-2*

Supplementary concepts

  • SARS-CoV-2 variants