Severe or fatal COVID-19 is very rare in children, studies show

LONDON, Aug. 27 (Reuters) – Children and adolescents are far less likely than adults to develop severe cases of COVID-19 infection, and death from pandemic disease among children is extremely rare, according to a British study published on Thursday.

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Children wear face masks after the outbreak of the novel coronavirus on Valentine’s Day in Hong Kong, China 14 February 2020. REUTERS / Tyrone Siu

A study of COVID-19 patients admitted to 138 hospitals in the UK found that less than 1% were children, and of those less than 1% – or a total of six – died, all of whom already suffered from serious illness as well as underlying health disorders.

“We can be absolutely sure that COVID in itself does not cause harm to children on a significant scale,” said Malcolm Semple, Professor of Pediatrics and Pediatrics at the UK University of Liverpool, who co-led the work.

“The message at the highest level should actually be that (in children with COVID-19) serious illness is rare, and death rarely disappears – and that (parents) should be comforted that their children have no immediate harm by returning to school, “he told a briefing.

Global data on the spread of the coronavirus pandemic show that children and adolescents worldwide make up only 1-2% of COVID-19 cases. The vast majority of reported infections in children are mild to asymptomatic, with a few recorded deaths.

For this study, published in the medical journal BMJ, the Semple team looked at data from 651 infants and children under 19 who were admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 between 17 January and 3 July.

The six children who died all had “deep comorbidity”, the researchers said, and this was a “remarkably low” lethal rate compared to a 27% over all age groups – from 0-106 years – of COVID-19 -patients hospitalized in the same period. While the overall risk of children getting serious COVID is “small”, the researchers said, children of black ethnicity and those with obesity are disproportionately affected, as previous studies in adults have found.

The study also showed that children may have a cluster of symptoms, such as sore throat, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea and rash in addition to already recognized COVID-19 symptoms of fever, shortness of breath and cough.

(Report by Kate Kelland; Edited by Giles Elgood)

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