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

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 i...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Monod, M, Blenkinsop, A, Xi, X, Hebert, D, Bershan, S, Tietze, S, Baguelin, M, Bradley, VC, Chen, Y, Coupland, H, Filippi, S, Ish-Horowicz, J, McManus, M, Mellan, T, Gandy, A, Hutchinson, M, Unwin, HJT, van Elsland, SL, Vollmer, MAC, Weber, S, Zhu, H, Bezancon, A, Ferguson, NM, Mishra, S, Flaxman, S, Bhatt, S, Ratmann, O
Other Authors: Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science 2021
Description
Summary: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.

Similar Items