The National Institutes of Health has begun a study to help determine the rate of novel coronavirus infection in children and their family members in the United States has begun enrolling participants.

The study will also help determine what percentage of children infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, develop symptoms of the disease. In addition, the  study will examine whether rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection differ between children who have asthma or other allergic conditions and children who do not. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, is sponsoring and funding the study, called HEROS (Human Epidemiology and Response to SARS-CoV-2).

“One interesting feature of this novel coronavirus pandemic is that very few children have become sick with COVID-19 compared to adults,” said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. “Is this because children are resistant to infection with SARS-CoV-2, or because they are infected but do not develop symptoms? The HEROS study will help us begin to answer these and other key questions.”

The HEROS study team will rapidly enroll 6,000 people from 2,000 U.S. families already participating in NIH-funded pediatric research studies in 11 cities. Study participants will include both healthy children and children with asthma or other allergic conditions. The study team will follow these children and their families for six months to determine who gets infected with the novel coronavirus, whether the virus is transmitted to other family members, and which family members with the virus develop COVID-19.

The study is going to help scientists and doctors understand how much infection there is in the entire population.

The study will be conducted completely remotely. Every two weeks, a caregiver in participating families will collect nasal swabs from the child who is the primary study participant and all other family members who are enrolled in the study, and will mail the samples to a laboratory for analysis. On the same day as the nasal swab, the caregiver will complete online questionnaires about each participant’s current symptoms, social distancing practices, recent activities outside the home, and recent exposure to people who are sick.

In addition, if any member of the household develops symptoms of a viral illness, the caregiver will fill out another online questionnaire designed to determine the likelihood that the illness is COVID-19. If COVID-19 is likely, the caregiver will collect nasal swabs from all study participants and a stool sample from the symptomatic participant within 24 hours.

A caregiver also will collect a blood sample from each study participant two weeks, 18 weeks and 24 weeks after enrollment as well as three weeks after the family’s first likely case of COVID-19, if there is one.  The blood will be analyzed for antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 once an appropriate antibody test becomes available.

For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.