Coronavirus, Infection in Children

Global

Cases, 20, 092,855

Deaths, 737, 022

US

Cases, 5, 093, 565

Deaths, 163, 473

Cases in Children

Autoimmune disorders and other risk factors

American Academy of Pediatrics (Cumulative Child Cases)

Summary of Findings Reported on 8/6/20, accumulative data

State health departments of 49 states data

90% increase in cases among children in past four weeks

380,174 total child positive tests

9.1% of all cases

501 cases per 100,000 children in the population

3%-12% of total state tests

3.7%-18.6% tested positive

Hospitalizations (20 states and NYC reported)

0.5% -5.3% of total reported hospitalizations

0.3%-8.9% of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in hospitalization

Mortality (44 states and NYC reported)

0%-0.4% of all COVID-19 deaths

19 states reported zero child deaths

American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases (Dr. Sean O'Leary)

Cases in children should be taken seriously

It's not fair to say that this virus is completely benign in children

(Roughly around 100 deaths in children from influenza every year)

Factors in increase in children

Increased testing

Increased movement among children

Rise in infection among the general population

When you see a lot more infections in the general population, you're going to see a lot more infections in children

We all have to take this virus seriously, including taking care of our children

Children’s viral load

JAMA (30th July)

Age-Related Differences in Nasopharyngeal Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Levels in Patients With Mild to Moderate Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Mild to moderate illness within 1 week of symptom onset, N = 145

Less than 5 years

Young children have equivalent or more viral nucleic acid in their upper respiratory tract compared with older children and adults

Ten to 100 times as much viral load

5 – 17 years

18 – 65 years

Young children can potentially be important drivers of SARS-CoV-2 spread in the general population

As has been demonstrated with respiratory syncytial virus, children with high viral loads are more likely to transmit

Behavioral habits of young children and close quarters in school and day care raise concern for SARS-CoV-2 amplification in this population

This population will be important for targeting immunization efforts as SARS-CoV-2 vaccines become available.

William Haseltine, (former professor at Harvard Medical School)

Children ages zero to five can be;

highly infectious to other people. It turns out they have a thousand times more virus in their nose than you need to infect, so they're very, very contagious

There's every reason to suspect that this virus, even though it can kill you, behaves pretty much like a cold virus, in terms of transmission

Who drives colds? Children drive colds

And that's true of almost all respiratory diseases, including the colds and including the colds that are caused by coronaviruses

And this is one of those cousins

It even uses the same receptor in the nasal passages as one of the cold viruses

CDC

Hospitalization data from 14 states

Since March 1, 2020

576 pediatric COVID-19–associated hospitalizations

Children, 8.0 per 100,000Adults, 164.5 per 100,000

One in 3 children hospitalised required ICU

Brazil

Cases, 3, 057, 470

Deaths, 101,752

India

Cases, 2, 268, 675

Deaths, 45, 257

Russia

Cases, 890, 779

Deaths, 15, 104

South Africa

Cases, 563, 598

Deaths, 10,621