Children accounted for almost 8,500 positive PCR tests in the first week of February

During the first week of February, children accounted for 8,458 positive PCR tests (23.3% of the total) down from more than 19,000 weekly cases found in this age group in mid-January. Picture: iStock

Almost one in four Covid-19 cases found through PCR testing in the first week of February were in children under-18, new figures show.

They also accounted for just over 30% of positive antigen results in the same week, even as the overall case numbers decline.

During the first week of February, children accounted for 8,458 positive PCR tests (23.3% of the total) down from more than 19,000 weekly cases found in this age group in mid-January.

The data, released by the HPSC (Health Protection Surveillance Centre), also shows over-18s made up the majority of positive results from antigen tests on each day between January 14 and February 5.

Between January 22 and January 25, however, positive antigen results from children rose to their highest point, accounting for about 45% of positives. 

Parents or guardians of children under four are advised PCR testing is more appropriate than antigen for this age group, but a small number of children are recorded as positive on the antigen graph each day, also by the HPSC.

Newborn babies

Hospital paediatricians have treated newborn babies for Covid-19 in Irish hospitals, and in many cases linked this to symptomatic adults visiting a family home and infecting the baby.

The first week of February saw one new outbreak in a childcare facility, with eight cases, the HPSC said. The graphs show 23% of outbreaks associated with childcare facilities reported during the 2021/2022 academic year involved two cases.

The HPSC had reports of seven school outbreaks, involving 28 linked confirmed cases for the same time period with between two and 10 in each outbreak. It said 24% of outbreaks associated with schools reported during 2021/2022 academic year have involved two cases.

The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) this week questioned whether the full extent of infections among children are being captured by the HSE systems.

There was a change in testing policy at the start of January, and a note attached to the PCR results says: “Confirmatory PCR tests are no longer necessary for those aged four-39 years outside of a risk group. This will affect the number and age distribution of confirmed cases notified on CIDR (computerised infectious disease reporting).” 

The HPSC say the PCR data now “needs to be interpreted with caution”. 

Despite these caveats, it said that when comparing cases among under-18s to other age groups, the overall trend was downward, albeit from a high base.