Children and the Coronavirus

Tens of thousands of cases of the coronavirus have been reported so far from different parts of the world. However, China has the lion’s share of the infections and deaths reported so far.  It is hard to tell the extent of the disease spread in China because the WHO is relying on the statistics that are being made public by the country. This means that the full impact of the disease may not yet be obvious.

With the reported cases, there is something that is quite confusing to many. This is the fact that the number of children affected by this virus is actually very low. This poses more questions to scientists.

The youth

The youth can contract the coronavirus. Two newborns have been reported to have the virus, according to reports from officials. However, there are very few cases of children who are sick enough to be given the coronavirus diagnosis.  This is according to a journal dated 5^th Feb. It helps to note that the numbers are still changing quite rapidly as the outbreak progresses. It helps to note that the patient’s median age skews a bit older. Most of the cases have been reported in persons between the age of 49 and 56 years.

So far, it is not yet clear why children do not seem to be affected by the virus completely. However, the same pattern is also seen with other infectious diseases such as measles and chickenpox. It was also the same case with MERS and SARS outbreaks. There are speculations that this could be as a result of the different kind of immune responses when adults are compared to children.