By Alistair Smout

LONDON, (Reuters) – COVID-19 infection in children and adolescents in England increased in September following school summer holidays. The increase helped to keep the cases up even when there was a decline in adults, as a large prevalence study revealed on Thursday.

Imperial College London’s REACT-1 study is the most recent to show that COVID-19 infection rates are increasing in children following the September reopening.

The infection rate in Britain is currently higher than that in any other west European country, however they are not higher than summer levels after the return of schools to England, despite the increased rates of children getting infected.

Study results showed that the prevalence of 13- to 17-year olds between September 9 and 27 was 2.55, while prevalence among those 5-12 years old was at 2.32. Below 1% was the prevalence for all age groups.

With an expected reproduction “R” of 1.18, the study revealed that the epidemic was increasing among people under 17. If the R number is above 1, it indicates an epidemic that has experienced exponential growth. A number lower than 1 suggests that there are signs of an epidemic in decline.

It was found that the epidemic is shrinking among 18-54-year olds with an R value of 0.81. However, it was generally stable for those older than 55.

Around 90% of adults over the age of 18 have received one dose COVID-19 vaccination. However, rates for children are lower and widespread vaccinations of all ages began only last month.

Paul Elliott, the researcher, stated to reporters that “prevalence was high in September among school-aged children.”

Increased vaccinations among school-aged children and unvaccinated/partial vaccinated adults can help to reduce transmission.

Study analyzed 100,527 valid saliva swabs. It is designed to estimate infection numbers unaffected the trends in COVID-symptomatic people.

According to daily statistics, Britain had 42,776 COVID-19 new cases Wednesday. This is the highest since mid-July. However, Sajid Javid, Britain’s health minister, attempted to reduce the fluctuation in the numbers.

“All things are stable right now. He said that the numbers have fluctuated between a little up and a little down in recent weeks.

“Our primary defenses are in place against this virus.”