Children more likely to catch swine flu, says new research

Children more likely to catch swine flu, says new research. Study looks at risk factors for swine flu transmission in households - %0A " - Imperial College London News Release Under strict embargo until: - 17. ET/22. GMT - Wednesday 30 December 2009 Young people aged under 18 years are more likely than adults to catch swine flu from an infected person in their household, according to a new study published today in . However, the research also shows that young people are no more likely than adults to infect others with the pandemic H1N1 virus. In the study, by scientists at the MRC Centre for Outbreak Analysis & Modelling at Imperial College London and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the USA, the researchers analysed data collected by CDC from 216 people believed to be infected with the swine flu virus, or 2009 H1N1, and 600 people living in their households, to determine how age, symptoms, number of people in a household and length of time after symptoms are first reported affect how easily people transmit the virus to one another. The study suggests that it may be unnecessary for patients to stay at home for longer than four days after they start to have symptoms.