Covid-19
Research: Children can also be severely affected by the Corvid-19
A study involving more than two thousand children in China suggests that children may be more vulnerable to the corona virus than they previously thought. Infants were found to be particularly vulnerable to severe infections
Corvid-19 has been around long enough to produce fairly accurate statistics on the degree of risk of different population groups. We already know that the risk increases with age and that people over the age of 70 are particularly at risk of mortality due to complications of the coronavirus. Recent reports have also emerged that indicate that children are at reduced risk – many of whom do not contract and most of them with only mild symptoms.
But now, the largest study to date on the impact of coronavirus on children reveals that children may be more vulnerable to the virus than previously thought – especially babies and children under the age of 6.
The study was recently published in the journal Pediatrics, during which researchers examined more than 2,000 children in China who had the Corvid-19 when the epidemic just broke out. The information published in the study can help change policies regarding schools, hospital preparation and providing more appropriate care.
Half of the children had mild symptoms, such as high fever, fatigue, nasal congestion, nausea and diarrhea. More than a third of the children (about 39 percent) were mid-level patients, with additional symptoms, such as pneumonia or pneumonia problems, that could be diagnosed through CT – but without dyspnea. About 4 percent of them had no symptoms at all.
But about 125 children (about 6 percent) developed severe symptoms and one 14-year-old boy also died from complications of the disease. Thirteen percent of them were in critical condition, on the verge of respiratory failure or organ collapse. Others were defined as in severe condition because they had severe respiratory problems. “It actually means that hospitals need to be prepared for pediatric patients, because we can’t rule them out,” explains Dr. Srinivias Morthy, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of British Columbia, who was not involved in the current study.
According to the study, more than 60 percent of the 125 severely ill children were aged 5 and under. 40 of them were under 12 months old. The main conclusion, according to Dr. Murthy, is that “children are infected at a similar percentage to adults, but at a lower degree of severity. But even among children, there is a spectrum of severity and there are quite a few cases that require more aggressive treatment. ” – so they may have trouble producing an effective immune response against the Corvid-19.
