In April, about 2% of all confirmed COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in children. Children now account for 11% of cases in the United States, and more than 61,000 of them were reported last week. That’s more than during any other week of the pandemic so far .
That number is even likely to be a countdown to the true number of infections, as children tend to have a milder version of the disease and are therefore less likely to be tested.
Contagion nodes
This increase in infections among the very young is not limited to children, since they can infect adults .
Children also have slightly different symptoms than adults . There are a number of similar problems: headaches, digestive problems, body aches, sore throat, sneezing, runny nose, and fatigue.
However, adults experience fever, cough, and shortness of breath at a much higher rate than children. Fatigue, headaches, sore throats, muscle aches, and diarrhea were also less common among younger patients.
Help protect yourself, your children, and your community, including essential workers during # COVID19 , by having your family vaccinated for the flu. https://t.co/vqfRjMtkXZ
– Amer Acad Pediatrics (@AmerAcadPeds) November 2, 2020
As children across the country continue to attend face-to-face classes and cold weather forces more Americans to lock themselves into more closed and poorly ventilated spaces, we will have to be increasingly vigilant.