Saswati Sarkar
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Written By: Saswati Sarkar | Updated : April 23, 2020 11:24 PM IST
A six-month-old girl suffering from congestive heart failure has been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus in the PGI Hospital, Chandigarh. According to IANS reports, a PGI statement said, "All close contacts of the baby are presently being screened. We are currently investigating how the baby acquired COVID-19 infection. Given that the incubation period of COVID-19 infection is generally up to two weeks (but can be variable), it is possible that the baby may have been incubating the infection at the time of admission to the PGI." Evidences so far suggest that the novel coronavirus has been kind to kids. The rate of COVID-19 cases among them has been the lowest, globally. However, there's no scientific research to validate that children are safer than others from this infection. Notably, a recent review of 18 studies suggests that kids may experience only mild symptoms of the COVID-19 infection, recovering within one or two weeks.
According to the findings of this review of studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, most paediatric cases of COVID-19 exhibited mild symptoms like fever, dry cough, and fatigue. Some kids were asymptomatic too. According to PTI reports, supportive care successfully cured the symptomatic children and scientists didn't record any death in the age bracket of 0 to 9 years. However, one death was reported in the age range of 10-19 years.
Though mild symptoms were noticed in almost all paediatric cases, there were a couple of exceptions where the children complained of severe manifestations including pneumonia, shock, vomiting, diarrhoea, fever and kidney failure. They were also cured with ventilation and intensive care. The participants of this study got the infection mostly from their parents or close family members. There was also one case of a newborn catching the COVID-19 infection. Researchers speculate that the baby contracted it from the mother. The study evaluated 1065 kids from China and Singapore for the research.
Evidences find that COVID-19 mostly affects the upper respiratory tract of kids that includes nose, mouths, and throats, not the lower airways. That's why they experience flu-like symptoms, not life-threatening manifestations like pneumonia. The other possible reason could be the fact that children have lower volumes of ACE2 receptor in their lungs, experts speculate. ACE2 receptor is a protein that allows the novel coronavirus to thrive and multiply.
Though the global instances of paediatric COVID-19 have been low so far, doctors aren't sure if it's going to remain so. An estimate published in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice suggests that up to 50,000 U.S. children might end up in hospitals with COVID-19 by the end of this year. Data from China also reveals that more than 2,100 children were infected with the novel coronavirus in China.
Another report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) hints at the fact that infants may be more likely to need hospitalization due to COVID-19 than any other age group among children. For this study, the CDC evaluated 2,500 Covid-19 patients under the age group of 18. Infants with underlying conditions are more prone to develop severe symptoms.
Death from this condition is rare among children. But there have been some cases of fatality in kids all over the world including India. On 19th April, India reported its youngest and first COVID-19 infant death. A one-and-a-half-month-old baby died at Delhi's Kalawati Saran Children's Hospital. A week or more before this, a 14-month old boy also lost his life to this deadly infection in Gujarat's Jamnagar district. The US saw its first infant death from COVID-19 last month in Illinois. UK, Belgium and China also have reported deaths of kids (12-14 years of age) infected by the novel coronavirus.
First of all, you need to talk to your child about this infection. But make sure that you don't sound alarmist or percolate your panic about it to your little one. The next step would be to tell him about the importance of maintaining good hygiene practices like frequent handwashing amidst the pandemic Show him how to wash hands with soap and water for 20 seconds. He should also learn to use alcohol-based hand sanitizer, maintain social distance and avoid touching his face.
