I am a doctor of infectious disease and I have this warning for autumn
Despite what you could hear, children are not immune to Covid-19.
Since the first cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, it is clear that the highly infectious virus does not have the same impact on children as adults and seniors. However, there is an incredibly dangerous myth by circulating right now and believing that it could have fatal repercussions.
Children are not "immune" in coronavirus
During an appearance of August 5th onFox and friends Discussing the reopening of schools, President Donald Trump made a statement on the role of children in the broadcast of the virus.
"This thing goes away, it's going to leave like things disappear. My point of view is that schools should be open," he said during the interview, that he later posted on its social media accounts. "If you look at the kids, the kids are almost, I would almost certainly say, but almost sheltered from this disease. So little believe. I do not know what you feel about it, but they have a lot more than Immune systems we are doing somehow for that. They have no problem. "
Facebook and Twitter responded by removing the position, claiming that it violated coronavirus-related crosformation policies. "This video includes false affirmations that a group of people is immune to Covid-19, which constitutes a violation of our policies around the misinformation of harmful Covid," said Facebook andy Stone's spokesmanAxios.
"Although it is true in general children tends to get a softer disease, they are not immunized, "saysThomas Murray, MD, Ph.D.Associate Professor at the University of Yale Medicine School in the Department of Pediatrics, Infectious Disease Section. "There is a subset of children who can be really sick of Covid-19. Even some children who first have light symptoms can develop the various Post Covid-19 (inflammatory multisystem syndrome in children). children can become very sick of Misc and end in the intensive care unit with some dying of this complication. No child is not immunized! "
According toAmerican pediatric academyAs of July 30, children account for about 8.8% of all cases in age reports, with more than 338,000 positive children for COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. However, it is true that children do not generally know the anger of the virus similar to adults and the elderly. "At that time, it seems that the serious disease due to Covid-19 is rare in children," he explains.
"So far, as a group, children have been relatively spared from the effects of the virus. However, there has been a set of increasing evidence to suggest that some become critical," saysCarlos Oliveira, MD, a pediatric disease of medicine infectious pediatric doctor and assistant professor of pediatric infectious diseases and global healthat Yale's School of Medicine. "Children with COVID-19 have been hospitalized for a wide range of reasons, respiratory failure to neurological symptoms, such as heart attacks, and even fast heart failure. We do not know, unfortunately why some children are seriously patients and why others do not. "
Pediatric coronavirus infections are actually on the rise
According to the latest AAP statistics, more children do it positive for COVID than before. From 16 to 30 July, 97,078 new cases of children were reported (241,904 to 338 982,982) - an increase of 40%.
"The question of how probably or unlikely, a child is to be infected by Covid-19 after the exhibition remains to answer convincingly," said Dr. Oliveira. "In the early stages of the pandemic, school closures were among the first social distancing measures introduced by most countries. This is worth noting because it has probably biased existing risk measures for children because their Possibilities of exposure to the virus were largely limited to their contacts of their household. There is also the question of how we should test the children to find the virus. By and Great, to confirm the diagnosis of Covid-19, we Let's search for the virus with a nasal or oral swab. However, this may not be the optimal method of the pediatric population. Several studies have shown that children often do not show respiratory symptoms such as coughing or congestion. Gastrointestinal symptoms, such as abdominal pain or diarrhea. However, clinicians rarely look for the virus in the stool.Thus, current risk estimates for children and their contacts can subscribe to their potential spread of this pandemic."
However, the chances of pediatric infection leading to hospitalization or death are very unlikely. Children accounted for only 0.6% -3.7% of the total reported hospitalizations, with 0.6% to 8.9% of all COVID-19 children, resulting in hospitalization.
In terms of mortality, children accounted for only 0% -0.8% of all CVIV-19 deaths, with 20 states reported none. In total, only 0% -0.3% of all COVID-19 child cases resulted in death.
"Parents must continue to take the virus seriously"
A study, published inJama PediatricsIn May, detailed the characteristics of severely sick patients of Pediatric Covid-19 in North America.
"The idea that Covid-19 is spared from young people is just false", coasturous Coauthor Lawrence C. Kleinman, Professor and Vice-President of Academic Development and Head of the Department of the Population, Quality and Health Division and Implementation of the population at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, explained in a press release. "While children are more likely to become very sick if they have other chronic conditions, including obesity, it is important to note that children without chronic disease are also at risk. Parents must continue to take the virus seriously. "
Children can propagate the adult-like virus
Another recent study by Ann & Robert H. Lurie Chicago Children's Hospital also published inJama PediatricsI found that children under 5 with a mild to moderate covide have much higher genetic levels for nose virus compared to older children and older adults, and could expand it in the same way. Adults and older children.
"We found that children under 5 with COVID-19 have a higher viral load than older children and adults, which may suggest greater transmission, as seen with a syncytial respiratory virus, Also called RSV ", Senior Author Taylor Heald-Sargent, MD, PhD, specialist in pediatric infectious diseases at Lurie Children and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Northwestern School of Medicine, explained in a press release. "This has important implications for public health, especially during discussions on the safety of reopening schools and daycare."
"Social distancing measures are starting to relax and schools are beginning to reopen,It is essential that we do not leave our guard and continue to closely monitor infection rates in children, "Adds Dr. Oliveira.
As for yourself, do everything you can to prevent you from installing-covid-19: Protect your children, wear a face mask, test yourself if you think of coronaviruses, avoid crowds (and bars and the evenings of the house), practice social distance, only manage essential races, wash your hands regularly, disinfect frequently affected areas and to cross this pandemic with your healthiest, do not miss these37 places you are most likely to catch coronavirus .