Despite the fact that the Chinese coronavirus is on the covers of many media, the alarm generated around it does not correspond to its severity, if we look at this simple graph. However, the coronavirus may be interesting in other ways.
For example, there is a mystery that has not yet been clarified about its selectivity when it comes to contagion: children are less susceptible .
There are almost 15-year-olds
The coronavirus outbreak was first reported on December 31, but children under the age of 15 were not diagnosed until January 22 . A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine noted: "Children may be less likely to become infected or, if infected, may show milder symptoms" than adults.
Doctors have since recorded some unique cases among children: a 9-month-old girl in Beijing, a boy in Germany whose father was first diagnosed with the virus, and a boy in Shenzhen, China, who was infected but shows no symptoms. Wednesday, Chinese authorities confirmed that a baby in Wuhan, China, had tested positive for the virus 30 hours after being born; The baby’s mother is a coronavirus patient.
According to health experts, a low case count among children is a good thing , as children are less likely to wash their hands, cover their mouths, and refrain from touching others – behaviors that can spread germs.
There are two explanations for why so few children have gotten sick : They are less likely to be exposed, or there is something different about how their bodies respond to the virus. It is also possible that adults will not pass the virus to children because people are careful to wash their hands, cover their mouths, and isolate themselves if they feel ill.
The coronavirus bears striking similarities to SARS, which killed 774 people and infected more than 8,000 between November 2002 and July 2003. There were also few cases of SARS among children at the time – just 80 laboratory-confirmed cases . In a 2007 report , experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that children 12 and under showed milder SARS symptoms than adults.