THE ELDERLY ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES INFECTED

( part 3 )

The majority of COVID-19 cases to date have been reported in adults. However, available data suggests that  approximately 1-2% of cases are in children. It is therefore possible that children have a lower infection prevalence. Early reports have been predominately case series and they suggest that children may have milder or asymptomatic infections. Therefore, the pediatric prevalence of COVID-19 is difficult to determine with certainty and currently may be underestimated.

This is why some countries are closing their schools. If a child is infected, the child can pass the virus onto his or her parents and grandparents.

Numerous reports of pediatric infections in China have been published. The youngest case was 30 hours old. Based on early reports, infections in children appear mild, There have been multiple reports of asymptomatic infection.  A report on an early familial cluster of COVID-19 stated that a 10-year-old child was infected. Despite reportedly being asymptomatic, throat and sputum samples were positive.

A case series of 74 pediatric patients in China with data as of January 31, 2020 is available. The age range was 1.5 months to 18 years. Of 31 children with temperature measurements, 28 (90%) had fever, which in most cases lasted one to two days. Other symptoms included cough, myalgia, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

A report of the characteristics of 13 patients admitted to hospitals in Beijing notes that two patients were children (aged 2 and 15 years). The 2-year-old had intermittent fever for one week and persistent cough for 13 days before diagnosis. Since patients were transferred to a different hospital upon confirmation of COVID-19 infection, this report did not include descriptions of the entire disease course.

A report on nine hospitalized infants indicated that four had fever, two had mild upper respiratory tract infections, two had no symptom information available and one was asymptomatic.

A case report on the first reported pediatric infection in Shanghai stated that a 7-year-old previously healthy boy was admitted to hospital on January 19, 2020 with symptoms of cough, nasal discharge, fever of 38.3o C, anorexia and nausea. A nasopharyngeal swab tested positive for COVID-19 and a chest x-ray showed increased lung markings bilaterally, but no obvious pneumonia. The child was clinically improving on day six.

A case report of a 3-month-old previously healthy girl indicated that she was admitted to hospital on January 26, 2020 for fever. Her chest x-ray was described to “show a shadow” and she subsequently developed a cough on January 29, 2020. Although a throat swab was negative, sputum and stool samples were positive for COVID-19.

A 13-month-old, previously healthy boy in China presented with symptoms of vomiting, diarrhea, fever, shortness of breath and oliguria. He subsequently developed pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, septic shock and acute renal failure. Imaging showed pneumonia and bilateral hydronephrosis. Throat swabs on day two and seven after admission were negative, but a third throat swab on day eight tested positive for COVID-19. This is the first report of severe pediatric COVID-19. It was unclear from this report if co-infections were excluded.

A report of 44,672 confirmed cases up to February 11, 2020 was published by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Of these, 416 (0.9%) were among children age 0-9 years and 549 (1.2%) were in children age 10-19 years. There was one reported death in the 10-19-year-old group. A report of 1,099 cases up to January 29, 2020 states that nine (0.9%) were in children ≤14 years.

Some media articles have included the age of cases detected internationally. There are reports of at least eight children outside of China who have been infected with COVID-19. These have occurred in Australia (age 8), Singapore (age 6 months, 1, 2 and 17 years), Germany (two children with no age indicated), France (age 9) and Vietnam (age 16) There are currently no reported pediatric cases in Canada, the United States, or the United Kingdom.

A case series of nine pregnant women infected with COVID-19 has been published with no indication of vertical transmission. Presence of COVID-19 was not detected in amniotic fluid, cord blood, breast milk or from neonatal throat swabs. All newborn babies were delivered by Caesarean section.

A student from the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) has been diagnosed with Covid-19.

In Australia, three Sydney high school students have been diagnosed with coronavirus, along with their parents.  A 14-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl, who are both in grade ten  at St Patrick's Marist College in Dundas, in the city's north-west, have tested positive for the illness, it has been confirmed.

A grade seven student at Willoughby Girls School was also confirmed that she had the virus and later it was announced that her mother had also tested positive.

The new school cases followed the diagnosis of a student at Epping Boys High School which has seen dozens of students who had close contact with him who were all then quarantined for two weeks.

The United States’ biggest Jewish educational institution, Yeshiva University, closed its main campus on Wednesday, citing confirmation that a student has been diagnosed with COVID19

Although men and women have been infected in roughly equal numbers, researchers found, the death rate among men was 2.8 per cent, compared with 1.7 per cent among women of any age. They can get the virus from their own children or grandchildren.  

As you can see from this article, everyone from newborn  babies to the elderly can be a carrier of the COVID19 virus so take precautions because you don’t want to get his  deadly virus.

If you or a member of your family feels sick, take your or your family member’s  temperature. If the temperature  is above normal, call your doctor. Follow your doctor’s instructions.