13/05/2020
RISK OF CORONA VIRUS TO CHILDREN
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Infants and young children are typically at high risk of infections caused by influenza – mainly because their respiratory tract and immune system are still immature. As for Covid-19, the virus uses a “spike protein” to bind to a receptor protein called ACE2 in human respiratory cells. One theory is that children have less of these cellular locks in their lower airways (lungs), or they might be a different shape, which is why their upper airways (nose, mouth and throat) are predominantly affected by Corona Virus.
It could also be down to the way children’s immune systems respond to the virus. In some adults, an excessive immune reaction called cytokine storm is what caused multi-organ failure and led to death, not the virus itself. “Covid-19 is mostly immune-mediated, which means that disease in the body results from the activity of the immune system, so young healthy people with good immune systems can also end up with severe disease,” said Julian Tang.
It is possible that children’s immune systems don’t evoke to fight off the virus and leave their lungs protected from serious damage. During the SARS outbreak in 2003, studies found that, unlike adults, children produced relatively low levels of cytokine responses.
But just because children tend not to be severely affected by Covid-19, it doesn’t mean they can’t spread it. The disease spreads from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth, which are spread when a person infected with the Covid 19 virus coughs or sneezes. Many children could be silent carriers and spread the virus widely as they are in close contact and don’t always wash their hands or do not use tissue properly. They are often known as super spreaders in other viruses such as cold and flu. This means that children carrying corona virus, with very mild or no symptoms, could pass it on to other, more vulnerable members of their family.(Kevin Frayer)
TAKE CARE FOR CHILDREN, TO CARE OTHERS!