Children and teenagers have less than half the odds of being infected with the coronavirus compared with people over 20, according to an analysis of contact tracing and population studies.

Infectivity among minors, however, remains unclear, particularly in schools and early learning settings, because there are mixed findings about the rates of adult-to-child and child-to-child spread, international researchers say.

The team, which included infectious diseases specialists Professor Robert Booy and Dr Archana Koirala from the University of Sydney, conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 32 studies from 21 countries.

Using data from about 42,000 children and adolescents and 269,000 adults, the investigators compared the susceptibility to, and transmission of, SARS-CoV-2 between the cohorts.