Healthy kids are rebounding from COVID-19: international expert
Posted March 10, 2020 6:31 pm.
Last Updated March 11, 2020 5:17 am.
VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) – It’s not that kids aren’t getting COVID-19.
They are, but healthy kids seem to be rebounding.
Doctor Camille Sabella is the Head of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the Cleveland Clinic.
I spoke with Director of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at @ClevelandClinic today about kids and #COVID19. Dr Camille Sabella says data from children in China shows that kids are contracting the virus but are less severely affected. 1/
— LizaYuzda (@LizaYuzda) March 10, 2020
He says while children are often as vulnerable as the elderly to flu viruses, they’re seeing a different story when it comes to COVID-19 and healthy children.
“Even the very young kids that we have from China, who were very young generally did very well,” he says. “Exactly why that is happening. I don’t think we have a good feel for that right now.”
There are theories of why so far but data from China shows healthy kids aren’t getting sick but do get the virus.
Sabella says “healthy children generally do well with viral infections , the flu being the one major exception” – #COVID19 is the exception to the exception. Where even v young children (usually most vulnerable, like elderly) are not having severe reaction in China. 2/
— LizaYuzda (@LizaYuzda) March 10, 2020
“Children may not be having severe symptoms, but they certainly may be reservoirs,” Sabella says.”They certainly do get infected. They certainly can transmit the virus just like any other virus.”
Sabella says children with prior conditions who are immune-suppressed are still at risk and parents of those kids need to make decisions with their doctors, but healthy kids might not even feel ill if they contract the virus.