A Look at DESE's Cited Sources: Footnote #52 - Distribution of influenza virus types by age using case-based global surveillance data from twenty-nine countries, 1999-2014

DESE Claim: "Whereas for COVID-19 it appears children are less likely to be infected with and to transmit COVID-19, this is not the case for influenza, where children are frequent transmitters."

Cited Source: Caini, S., Spreeuwenberg, P., Kusznierz, G. F., Rudi, J. M., Owen, R., Pennington, K., ... & Njouom, R. (2018). Distribution of influenza virus types by age using case-based global surveillance data from twenty-nine countries, 1999-2014. BMC infectious diseases, 18(1), 1-10. Available at https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-018-3181-y

Peer Reviewed?: yes

Study Methodology: "random-effects meta-analysis models" and "meta-regression and sub-group analyses"

Notes: Influenza infection rate study. "young children are the age group most affected by influenza in relation to their size in the country’s population" 

Supports DESE Claim?: Partial (influenza part of the claim only)