During cold and flu season, the youngest kids really are the germiest
[October 23, 2025]
By JONEL ALECCIA
Forget colorful leaves. Any caregiver knows that the real signs of fall
are kids with coughs, sneezes and sniffles.
Autumn marks the start of respiratory virus season, when colds, flu and
other bugs start circulating — especially among the very young.
A recent study confirmed what many families intuitively know: The
littlest students harbor the most germs.
Children in pre-kindergarten and elementary school showed highest rates
of virus detection compared with older students and staff, according to
research published in the journal Pediatrics.
“Young children can have up to 10 respiratory viruses a year as their
immune systems are introduced to different infections for the first
time,” said Dr. Jennifer Goldman, a pediatrician at Children’s Mercy
hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, who co-led the study.
Younger kids were more likely to have virus detected
Goldman and her colleagues analyzed nasal swabs and symptom reports from
more than 800 students and staff in a large school district in Kansas
City from November 2022 to May 2023.
They found that overall, more than 85% of all participants had at least
one respiratory virus detected during that time and more than 80% had an
episode of acute respiratory illness — though not necessarily at the
same time.
More telling, 92% of pre-K and elementary school kids had a virus
detected, compared with about 86% of middle school students, about 77%
of high school students and 76% of staff.
The pre-K kids, ages 3 to 5, had the highest rates of actual illness,
too, the study found.
Most of the viruses were the kinds that cause the common cold, including
rhinovirus, which was found in 65% of participants, and types of
seasonal coronavirus detected in about 30%. The virus that causes
COVID-19 was found in about 15% of those studied.
Study confirms the experiences of pediatricians who are parents
The new study provides a baseline look at the burden of viruses in
school settings, Goldman said.
[to top of second column]
|
 It also confirms the real-world
experience of pediatricians who are parents, like Dr. Nicole Torres
of the University of Miami Health System.
“I can say this for my own children, who are now in their teens:
They were sicker when they were younger,” she said.
The study also squares with older research that
found that young kids play a key role in spreading respiratory
viruses at home. Dr. Carrie Byington was co-author of a University
of Utah study, published in 2015, that recruited 26 households to
take nasal samples from everyone living in a home, every week, for a
year.
That study found that children younger than 5 had virus detected for
half of the weeks of the year, recalled Byington, who is now with
the University of California, San Diego.
“And if you live in a household with multiple children, that
proportion just goes higher, so it can appear as if someone is
always sick,” she said.
How to prevent illness — or at least try to
Preventing illness in children at school or at home can be tough,
experts acknowledge.
Being up to date on vaccinations for COVID-19 and influenza is
important, they said. So is frequent handwashing, learning to cover
coughs and keeping hands away from the eyes, nose and mouth.
Cleaning and sanitizing frequently touched surfaces and objects and
optimizing fresh air are also key.
When little ones do get sick, the best treatment is often supportive
care like extra fluids and rest. In serious cases, medical providers
may recommend medications to reduce fever or antiviral drugs.
It can take a couple weeks, however, for lingering symptoms like
coughs to completely resolve. By then, the child may well have
another cold.
“I do tell parents of younger children to expect them to be ill once
every month, every month and a half,” Torres said. “It’ll seem that
way.”
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
