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The study in the country's leading medical journal Nederlands Tijdschrift Voor Geneeskunde followed the progress of the disease in 54 families, including 227 people in all.
Studies in other countries have previously found that children are less often infected by the virus and, once infected, less often become seriously ill.
"Yes, children can become infected, but transmission takes place primarily between adults of similar age, and from adults to children," the study said in its conclusion.
"Transmission between children, or from children to adults, as is known in influenza, appears to be less common."
A possible weakness in the study is that the families studied may not have been representative of the wider Dutch population.
Participants were chosen from families identified by positive tests from March 23-April 16, a period when only seriously ill people with suspected COVID-19 cases and healthcare workers were being tested in the Netherlands.
because we ALL KNOW that our own kids when little were walking talking germ factories. When a bad bug went around, parents KNEW to exercise caution and up vitamins. I remember helping out at school one day (probably halloween costume help) and I helped this kid with green snot running down his face (clearly feverish). So of course I caught that one! When the latest "oh big meany bad flu" went around (was that the mexican swine flu?), our child was regular level sick for 1.5 days. We cuddled her, wiped her forehead, and gave lots of hugs and kisses, and never got sick ... because we were both around in 70s for another variant and were still immune. Yet we are not immune to everything our kids bring home, and so our immune systems get a regular "workout/training" session.
Basic virology (taught to me by my 3rd generation GP/general surgeon): You want your kids to get measles, it is ESSENTIAL to building a healthy immune system. The reason people are now getting shingles is because of the chicken pox vaccine. By preventing wild chickenpox, fewer adults and grandparents get "innoculated" regularly, and the "innoculation" for shingles is exposure to kids w/chicken pox, which you can only get ONCE ... that is why shingles was almost NONEXISTENT when I was young (and we ALL had chickenpox, mine at age 16 during spring break, I caught from my 9 year old sister, who was able to enjoy spring break). And basic virology/immunology: my child wanted cool dots, llike measles or chickpox, and would occasionally come home and say "Mommy I hugged my friend emily today at school because she has chickenpox, do you think I can get it?" She couldn't and hasn't caught any of the diseases our family doctor (acting pediatrician) wanted her to, and as a young adult now, I guess her immune system was just too strong to be affected by any of these. OR she received maternal immunity from this odd concept modern society has forgotten about: nursing your child for at least 2 years, which every society in the world did, until recently.