We believe that COVID itself does not cause harm to children on a significant scale
London (ANTARA) – Children and adolescents are far less likely to catch a severe case of COVID-19 infection than adults.
Additionally, deaths from the disease among children are extremely rare, according to the British study published on Thursday.
According to a study of people with COVID-19 being treated in 138 hospitals in the UK, less than one percent of patients were children.
And, among that one percent –that is, six children in total– died. All the children who died previously suffered from serious illnesses or had health problems.
“We believe that COVID itself does not cause harm to children on a significant scale,” said Malcolm Semple, professor of plague medicine and child health at the UK University of Liverpool, who co-led the study.
“The strongest message is that (in children with COVID-19) severe illness is rare, and deaths are becoming less frequent – and (parents) can be comfortable that their children do not face immediate harm by returning to school,” he said in a briefing.
Global data on the spread of the coronavirus pandemic shows that children and young people make up only one to two percent of total COVID-19 cases worldwide.
Most transmission to children is mild or asymptomatic, and only a few children have been reported to have died.
For the research, published in the medical journal BMJ, Semple’s team looked at data from 651 infants and children under 19, who were hospitalized for COVID-19 between January 17 and July 3.
The six children who died all had “serious comorbidities,” the researchers said.
That number, they said, was a “very low” mortality rate compared to 27 percent in all age groups of COVID-19 patients, from 0-106 years, who were hospitalized during the same period.
While the likelihood of children developing severe COVID-19 was “low,” the researchers said, children of black ethnicity and who were obese were disproportionately affected.
The same situation was found in previous studies in adults.
The study also shows that children can have a range of symptoms, including sore throat, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, diarrhea and rash, along with symptoms of COVID-19 – such as fever, shortness of breath, and cough.
Source: Reuters
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Translator: Tia Mutiasari
Editor: Gusti Nur Cahya Aryani
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