There has been widespread controversy recently about the credibility of a tweet by American entrepreneur Elon Musk, in which he indicated that children are "immune" against infection with the emerging corona virus. So far, events indicate that the virus may cause severe disease symptoms or even death for the elderly, while the situation is reassuring for children.
However, there are disturbing reports that some young people have also suffered severe symptoms from infection with the Corona virus. These reports, as well as school closures and social distancing, have raised parents' concerns about the impact of the coronavirus on their children.
Can the new coronavirus infect children?
Yes, children are not safe from infection if they are in an environment where the new coronavirus is circulating.
Andrew Pollard, a professor of immunity and infectious diseases in children at the University of Oxford, says that the number of infections among children is now no less than among adults, although we initially believed that it did not affect children. But children usually show mild symptoms of infection.
The data of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that children under 19 years of age accounted for only two percent of the cases recorded as of February 20, and their number reached 72,314 cases.
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But Sanjay Patel, consultant pediatric infectious disease at Southampton Children's Hospital, attributes the decrease in the infection rate among children in this period to the fact that work environments and transportation were the main source of transmission, but adults now spend more time with their children, and therefore we may see an increase in infection rates among children.
Global statistics indicate that children are less likely to be infected with the emerging corona virus, but this data may not be reliable because some countries do not conduct laboratory tests except for patients who are transferred to the hospital after the symptoms of the disease worsen, and children often constitute only a small percentage of the number of cases. these.
How is the impact of the emerging corona virus on children different from its effect on adults?
Andrew Pollard, head of the Vaccine Group at Oxford University, says that all reports of people infected with the Corona virus so far indicate that children are less affected by the virus than Adults, even if they have serious diseases that affect their immunity, such as cancer.
However, children infected with the emerging coronavirus, in general, suffer from relatively mild symptoms compared to adults. His youngest victims in Europe were a 12-year-old girl from Belgium and a 13-year-old boy from London. In China, the youngest victim was 14 years old.
A Chinese study, conducted on children infected with the emerging coronavirus, confirmed that more than half of the infected people suffered from minor symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, body aches, and sneezing, while a third of them suffered from pneumonia, recurrent fever, and sputum-producing cough. The chest wheezes, without the shortness of breath and difficulty breathing that accompanies serious cases.
Graham Roberts, a consultant pediatrician at the University of Southampton, says that the emerging corona virus affects the upper respiratory tract, that is, the nose, mouth and throat, in the majority of children, and therefore its symptoms are similar to those of the common cold, and the virus does not reach the lungs or cause severe and severe pneumonia as well. It is the case in adult patients.The percentage of children who developed shortness of breath or acute respiratory distress syndrome as a result of infection with the emerging coronavirus did not exceed six percent of the total number of infected people. About 1 percent of children with coronavirus infection did not show any symptoms.
Why do children have higher recovery rates compared to adults?
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"The virus is so new that we don't really know the cause," says Roberts, director of the David Hyde Center for Asthma and Allergy Research in Newport, UK.
One likely reason so far, says Roberts, is that the virus needs some kind of protein on the surface of the cell (the receptor) in order to get inside and cause trouble. The emerging corona virus appears to use the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor for this purpose. Perhaps because the lower respiratory tract in children has fewer of these receptors than the upper respiratory tract, the infection affects the upper respiratory tract in children.
Numerous studies conducted on several types of coronaviruses (Coronaviruses) have shown that this class of viruses prefer the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor.
Pollard believes that there is another explanation for this phenomenon, which is the changes that occur in the body with age, such as the aging of the immune system, and its weak ability to fight new infections.
Children in nurseries and schools are exposed to a huge number of new respiratory infections, and then their bodies produce more antibodies to fight infection with viruses than adults.
Roberts says that the immune response to viral infection may be stronger in children than in adults, and appears in the form of a severe rise in body temperature. It is most likely that the immune system in children is more able to attack the virus and prevent it from entering the lower respiratory tract.
Children who have been infected with any of the other four coronaviruses may have developed immunity to all coronaviruses, Patel says.
The researchers indicated in the Chinese study that most children do not suffer from chronic respiratory, cardiovascular and vascular diseases, and this makes them more able to resist severe symptoms of the emerging corona virus.
Some attributed that children did not develop severe symptoms as a result of corona infection to a third reason, which is the inability of their immune systems to launch an excessive immune response to resist viruses, as is the case in adults with severe symptoms of the disease, and their bodies secrete huge numbers of cytokines or proteins that It regulates the immune response, called a "cytokine storm", which may cause the body's organs to stop working.
Can childrenwith mildsymptoms orinfect others? b>
Yes, they can transmit infection.
Many people think that children are in the least threatened category, so we shouldn't worry about them, Roberts says. And this is true if the children do not suffer from chronic diseases such as immunodeficiency. But these people miss that children may be one of the main channels for spreading infection in societies.
Corona infection is transmitted from an infected person to an uninfected person through direct contact with droplets secreted by the respiratory tract of the infected person, or touching surfaces contaminated with the virus. Thus, children infected with the Coronavirus, whether they are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms, may infect others, especially their family members and elderly relatives.
Roberts says that children who show mild symptoms are likely to be among the biggest contributors to spreading the virus, and that is why the decision to close schools was very important to reduce the rates of the spread of the pandemic.
Have we seen similar patterns with other viruses that children with mild symptoms contribute to spreading?
Yes, one example is the seasonal flu virus.
Roberts says that a child with influenza often suffers only from a runny nose, but adults with it may have worsening symptoms and be transferred to hospitals and intensive care units, and some of them die.
Roberts warns that the British government's keenness to give children the flu vaccine was not intended to protect children as much as it was to prevent children from transmitting the infection to their elderly relatives who may suffer from severe symptoms.
Patel gives the example of one of the coronaviruses that caused swine flu and the disease outbreaks in 2009 and 2010. Symptoms of the disease in children were limited to minor abdominal pain, while pregnant women and the elderly suffered from more severe symptoms.
Is the effect of Corona different on children according to their age stages?
Chinese studies indicated that young people, especially infants, are more at risk of infection with the emerging coronavirus compared to older children. And while the severity of the disease worsened in one in 10 infants as a result of infection with the virus, these rates decreased significantly in older children, as the severity of the disease only increased in three out of every 100 children over the age of five years.
Roberts says that children under five years of age are still small, and they cannot resist infection like older children. They are more likely to be hospitalized after infection.
And what about teenagers?
Roberts says that the immune system of adolescents is entering the stage of maturity, and then its efficiency in resisting this virus decreases.
The Chinese study indicated that the only death among children was a 14-year-old. In the United Kingdom, two deaths were recorded for two young people as a result of infection with the emerging corona virus, one of whom was 18 years old and was suffering from diseases, and the other was 13 years old.
Does the new coronavirus infect newborns?
Up to this point, there are two confirmed cases of infection in two newborn babies, one in Wuhan and the other in London. Although we do not know yet whether they were infected in the womb or after childbirth, but in both cases, the analyzes confirmed that the mother was infected with the emerging corona virus.
What do we know so far about the impact of the Corona virus on fetuses inside the womb?
We don't know much yet. Although some other coronaviruses, such as the two viruses that cause severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), may affect pregnant women and their children, and cause miscarriages, premature birth and poor growth, similar patterns have not yet been recorded with the emerging corona virus. .
Public Health England advises pregnant women to strictly adhere to social distancing measures for up to 12 weeks, as they are more at risk of developing severe symptoms and complications from infection with the emerging corona virus.
What steps can be taken to protect children from infection with the Coronavirus?
In the beginning, the most important steps to prevent the spread of the virus are washing hands well, adhering to social distancing, and disinfecting surfaces and solid materials that may harbor germs and viruses. Health authorities recommend the importance of using paper tissues when sneezing and coughing, then disposing of them in the trash and killing germs remaining on the hands by washing them immediately.
And Patel advises to refrain from touching the face after touching the surfaces in gathering places, except after washing the hands thoroughly.
How can families prevent transmission from children to the elderly and other high-risk relatives?
Social distancing is the best and safest way to prevent the transmission of infection from children or others to the elderly and relatives who are most at risk of infection.
Patel says that on Mother's Day, he saw children accompanied by their grandparents, grandmothers, and parents, disregarding clear instructions about the risks of severe symptoms for the elderly as a result of infection with the emerging coronavirus.
Although separating healthy children from their elderly relatives may seem unnecessary, most children with coronavirus are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms and may transmit the virus to others.
Why is it important to talk to children about the novel coronavirus?
People talk all the time now about the novel coronavirus pandemic and its victims, which is why he advises parents to reassure their children that the virus is not killing children.
Because of his constant dealings with children, Patel says that children always fear the worst consequences and may not disclose their fears to others.
Pollard suggests that parents assure their children that the virus often does not cause severe symptoms in children.
You can read the original article on the BBC Future website