Children aren't safe from coronavirus COVID-19, here's their symptoms

In general, it has been established that the elderly are the most at risk from dying from coronavirus COVID-19, and this is true. But that doesn't mean that children cannot contract the virus and spread it onto others.

According to the Center For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, children are not at a higher risk for COVID-19 than adults. The CDC also explains that symptoms found in children are extremely similar to those found in adults, but those symptoms are usually much milder than those found in adults. Parents who are worried about their child should watch out for the following symptoms; fever, runny nose, and cough, vomiting, diarrhea, and the loss of smell and taste.

Harvard Medical School cites a study from China that examined COVID-19 infections in children, and what they found was that most children who contracted the virus appeared to be asymptomatic. Here's the statement, "The best news in this study is that 90% of the [2,143] children had illness that was asymptomatic, mild, or moderate - as opposed to severe or critical."

Statement continued: "That means that even if the children were sick, with fever and cough, 90% did not have trouble breathing, need oxygen or need to be in the intensive care unit. While 4.4% were reported as asymptomatic, given that only a third had laboratory testing, it's very likely that the actual number of asymptomatic infections in children during that time period was higher. Only one child died."

Important information in the statement: "However, there is a part of the study we need to pay attention to: younger children are at higher risk of running into trouble. Among children less than a year old, 10.6% had severe or critical disease. For children ages 1 to 5, that number was still high at 7.3%. It dropped to 4.2% for 6-to-10-year-olds, 4.1% for 11-to-15-year-olds, and 3% for those 16 and older. Interestingly, the only child who died was 14 years old."

Children from multiple countries around the world have unfortunately died from COVID-19. Here are some examples; 17-year-old in California, Jaquan Anderson, also 17 from New Orleans, and a 16-year-old from France.

The Harvard Medical School says that parents should be extremely mindful of the following symptoms that their child could be experiencing;

• any trouble breathing - rapid or forceful breathing, a pale or blue color to skin, trouble feeding or talking, or doing usual activities because of breathing problems
• a high fever you can't get down (while it's not certain, there have been some concerns raised about using ibuprofen with COVID-19 - out of an abundance of caution, best to use acetaminophen instead)
• unusual sleepiness
• pain or irritability you can't soothe
• trouble drinking or refusal to drink, and is making less urine.

In the event of your child experiencing any of these symptoms, Harvard Medical School recommends that parents contact a doctor for advice rather than immediately bringing them into the office and risking further contamination to others. Stay safe and smart.

Important Coronavirus COVID-19 Information

Medications: It has also been found that these medications can aggravate coronavirus cases, more on that can be found here.

How long it stays on surfaces: Researchers have also discovered how long the coronavirus stays on surfaces, find out more here.

How it makes you sick: Scientists have figured out exactly how the coronavirus COVID-19 makes you sick, find out how here.

The human body fight: Developing research has been able to pinpoint exactly how the human body fights off coronavirus COVID-19, more can be found here.

Early warning sign of infection - Doctors have discovered the important early warning sign of COVID-19 infection, find out what it is here.

Last updated: Apr 6, 2020 at 04:34 pm CDT