• Rachael Wood, Emma Thomson, Robert Galbraith, Ciara Gribben, David Caldwell, Jennifer Bishop, Martin Reid, ShahAnoop S VASVDepartment of Non-communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK., Kate Templeton, David Goldberg, Chris Robertson, Sharon J Hutchinson, Helen M Colhoun, Paul M McKeigue, and David A McAllister.
• Public Health Scotland, Edinburgh, UK.
• Arch. Dis. Child. 2021 Dec 1; 106 (12): 1212-1217.

ObjectiveChildren are relatively protected from COVID-19, due to a range of potential mechanisms. We investigated if contact with children also affords adults a degree of protection from COVID-19.DesignCohort study based on linked administrative data.SettingScotland.Study PopulationAll National Health Service Scotland healthcare workers and their household contacts as of March 2020.Main ExposureNumber of young children (0-11 years) living in the participant's household.Main OutcomesCOVID-19 requiring hospitalisation, and any COVID-19 (any positive test for SARS-CoV-2) in adults aged ≥18 years between 1 March and 12 October 2020.Results241 266, 41 198, 23 783 and 3850 adults shared a household with 0, 1, 2 and 3 or more young children, respectively. Over the study period, the risk of COVID-19 requiring hospitalisation was reduced progressively with increasing numbers of household children-fully adjusted HR (aHR) 0.93 per child (95% CI 0.79 to 1.10). The risk of any COVID-19 was similarly reduced, with the association being statistically significant (aHR per child 0.93; 95% CI 0.88 to 0.98). After schools reopened to all children in August 2020, no association was seen between exposure to young children and risk of any COVID-19 (aHR per child 1.03; 95% CI 0.92 to 1.14).ConclusionBetween March and October 2020, living with young children was associated with an attenuated risk of any COVID-19 and COVID-19 requiring hospitalisation among adults living in healthcare worker households. There was no evidence that living with young children increased adults' risk of COVID-19, including during the period after schools reopened.© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.

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