Children and COVID-19
Photograph: Kelly Sikkema via Unsplash
Children and COVID-19
We’re all worried about the impact the current health crisis might have our our families, especially our kids.
The good news when it comes to babies and children during the coronavirus, is that they are much lower risk. Professor of Infectious Diseases at the Australian National University medical school Peter Collignon said ‘children will undoubtedly get infected but the probability that they will come to serious grief from this seems very low.’
Dr Collignon also said that kids (this includes teenagers) have the lowest risk of dying out of all age groups and have lower rates of illness (symptoms) at the most severe end of the spectrum.
They also have a lower rate of infection and unlike other respiratory diseases, COVID-19 does not seem to effect children more adversely than adults.
‘We are seeing lower numbers if children infected compared to what we’d normally see with other respiratory viruses.’
A study of 1,391 children who were close contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases in China found only 12 per cent of them had infections.
‘It’s not that children aren’t being infected, but they’re being infected at a much lower rate than higher age groups’ Professor Collignon said.
Whilst children tend to have fairly mild symptoms, there is still reason to remain vigilant.
Three children in the study Professor Collignon referred to required intensive care, but all had other health conditions.
Another study of more than 2,000 children with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 in China found a small proportion in each age group had severe or critical forms of the disease. This could involve symptoms such as low oxygen levels or respiratory failure.
A commentary in the same journal (Pediatrics) noted that for other infections with other coronaviruses (that is, not the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2) being younger, having underlying lung conditions, and being immunocompromised are all linked with more severe disease in children.
Babies and toddlers
Infants are also at fairly low risk from COVID-19, but not quite as low as older children. Toddlers, especially those under the age of one, had a higher risk of having a severe or critical form of the disease.
Professor Collignon said babies tended to be at higher risk from most infections.
‘In general, the younger the child the higher the risk,’ he said.
‘If you're under the age of one, you're at more of a risk of most diseases because you haven't developed any immunity yet.’ But he said he hadn't seen any really convincing data that they were more at risk.
‘There's a lot we don't know. I don't want to sound like we've got all the answers," he said.
‘But my presumption at the moment [based on the evidence] is that babies don't appear to be at a very high risk.’
Pregnant women and their babies
The changes to the immune system that women experience during pregnancy often mean they are at higher risk of infection. Not so with Coronavirus says Professor Collignon. ‘There’s not really good evidence, as far as I can see, that pregnant women are at higher risk than women the same age.’
According to the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists:
Pregnant women don't seem to become more severely unwell from COVID-19 than the general population
Infection doesn't seem to increase the risk of miscarriage
There is no evidence the virus can pass from pregnant mother to baby
There is no evidence the virus will cause abnormalities in an unborn baby
Caesarean section or induction of labour does not seem necessary to reduce the risk of transmission from mother to child
Some babies born to women with symptoms of COVID-19 in China were born prematurely, but it's unclear whether this was due to the virus or doctors' decisions
Newborn babies and infants don't seem to be at increased risk of complications
COVID-19 does not seem to pass from mother to child through breastmilk, so breastfeeding is still encouraged, although women with the virus should be extra careful with hygiene and consider wearing a face mask while feeding
Professor Collignon has advised people to follow public health advice around social distancing, cleanliness and staying away from people suffering from illness.
The final piece of advice from Professor Collignon is that the people we need to be very careful to avoid are the elderly.
‘Maybe instead of isolating children we should be isolating people over the age of 70,’ Professor Collingon said.
‘Don't have people visiting who are sick, even your grandchildren, and even if they're not, avoid close contact.’