ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — One of the rare silver linings about COVID-19 is that it seems to be sparing our children from the most severe cases.
Although pediatric cases are possible and we've recently seen infant deaths associated with COVID-19, the vast majority of children are not likely to need hospitalization.
Dr. Juan Dumois, a pediatric infectious disease physician at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital said the reason for that is not completely clear but there's a theory about children's development and how that might deter the virus from invading a child's lungs.
"In children, there’s a molecule on the surface of the cells in our lungs and intestines to which a virus attaches before it can invade the cell and start causing problems," explained Dr. Dumois. "That molecule on the surface is present in children but perhaps it’s not fully functional in a way to make it easy for the virus to infect," added Dumois.
In other words, the molecule COVID-19 attaches to might not be as mature in a child and therefore not as appealing to the virus.
While this theory is encouraging, parents still can't put their guards down especially those with children under the age of one.
Dr. Dumois says children are not likely to come down with a severe case of coronavirus but those that do are more likely to be under the age of one. Babies have smaller airways so mucus can easily cause blockages in those narrow tubes.
Here are some other questions parents wanted Dr. Dumois to answer:
Q: What is a sign we should take our child to the doctor?
A: If they seem to be struggling to breathe, not just coughing but it looks like they’re struggling to take in a breath. You can look for evidence of that in younger babies by looking at the skin between their ribs on their chests. If it looks like the skin is sucking in or retracting, that is a sign they are working harder to breathe and they should be seen right away.
Q: Is playing outside okay for kids?
Yes, as long as they’re not interacting with other children or touching playground equipment or surfaces touched by other children. When you’re outside, the air is safer than in an internal environment.
Q: Would more testing reveal more child cases?
A: If we were able to do more testing, we would definitely detect more infections in children and adults. However, it’s unlikely we would be picking up more of the children with severe cases.
Q: Do other vaccinations play a role in children and coronavirus?
A: It definitely does. When a child is unvaccinated and they get sick, it makes it much harder for the evaluating physician to figure out what they have.
Q: What is the key takeaway for parents?
A: One big role for parents is to reassure their children that they don’t have to worry, that they’re doing the things they can to avoid getting sick and that it is temporary. Things will get better.
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