Coronavirus In Children: Everything You Need To Know

While COVID-19 has infected over 90,000 individuals and caused about 3,000 deaths worldwide, children have been reported to be at lower risk of several novel coronavirus symptoms. Despite the constantly changing statistics, current evidence has demonstrated that older adults are highly susceptible to coronavirus compared to the children.

“There is no evidence that children are more susceptible. In fact, most confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported from China have occurred in adults. Infections in children have been reported, including in very young children. From limited information published from past Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) outbreaks, infection among children was relatively uncommon,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mentioned.

What are the coronavirus symptoms reported in children?

Limited reports of children infected with the deadly virus have described symptoms including fever, cough and runny nose. Vomiting and diarrhea have been reported less frequently. Children have been presented with mild symptoms thus far. Only in rare cases, severe complications such as acute respiratory distress syndrome septic shock have been reported in children.

What is the COVID-19 mortality rate in children?

There hasn’t been any death reported in children aged 9 or younger. This might be due to several factors including the low number of childhood cases of coronavirus infection, low number of children being exposed or exhibiting symptoms.

Despite, the fact that children have been relatively safer, they might still play a critical role in COVID-19 transmission. “Children are mobile, shed large volume of the virus, congregate in groups and are at lower risk of severe disease so often maintain their daily activities,” MedicalXpress said.

How to tell if your child had COVID-19?

Most kids exhibit respiratory symptoms alongside a cough which cannot be distinguished from the common cold or flu. By far, children with confirmed COVID-19 have had close contacts or family members who were infected.

How to prevent children from getting infected?

They should engage in typical preventive actions to prevent the spread of respiratory infections such as: