Age groups that sustain resurging COVID-19 epidemics in the United States

After initial declines, in mid-2020 a resurgence in transmission of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) occurred in the United States and Europe. As efforts to control COVID-19 disease are reintensified, understanding the age demographics driving transmission and how these affect the loosening of interventions is crucial. We analyze aggregated, age-specific mobility trends from more than 10 million individuals in the United States and link these mechanistically to age-specific COVID-19 mortality data. We estimate that as of October 2020, individuals aged 20 to 49 are the only age groups sustaining resurgent SARS-CoV-2 transmission with reproduction numbers well above one and that at least 65 of 100 COVID-19 infections originate from individuals aged 20 to 49 in the United States. Targeting interventions—including transmission-blocking vaccines—to adults aged 20 to 49 is an important consideration in halting resurgent epidemics and preventing COVID-19–attributable deaths.

Source: ScienceNOW - March 25, 2021 Category: Science Authors: Monod, M., Blenkinsop, A., Xi, X., Hebert, D., Bershan, S., Tietze, S., Baguelin, M., Bradley, V. C., Chen, Y., Coupland, H., Filippi, S., Ish-Horowicz, J., McManus, M., Mellan, T., Gandy, A., Hutchinson, M., Unwin, H. J. T., van Elsland, S. L., Vollmer, Tags: Computers, Mathematics, Epidemiology, Online Only r-articles Source Type: news