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    Li Et Al., 2020 Zhou Et Al., 2020: Severe Covid-19 Infections in Children - 4 Major Risk Factors

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    The document identifies 4 major risk factors for severe Covid-19 infections in children: 1) age, with those under 1 year of age and newborns at highest risk, 2) pre-existing medical conditions, especially heart, lung, and neurological disorders, 3) sex, with boys at higher risk than girls, and 4) obesity. Younger children, those with pre-existing conditions, and obese children should be strictly protected from exposure to help avoid severe infections. More research is still needed to fully understand risk factors and improve treatment for children.

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    Li Et Al., 2020 Zhou Et Al., 2020: Severe Covid-19 Infections in Children - 4 Major Risk Factors

    Uploaded by

    maggi
    24 views2 pages
    The document identifies 4 major risk factors for severe Covid-19 infections in children: 1) age, with those under 1 year of age and newborns at highest risk, 2) pre-existing medical conditions, especially heart, lung, and neurological disorders, 3) sex, with boys at higher risk than girls, and 4) obesity. Younger children, those with pre-existing conditions, and obese children should be strictly protected from exposure to help avoid severe infections. More research is still needed to fully understand risk factors and improve treatment for children.

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    The document identifies 4 major risk factors for severe Covid-19 infections in children: 1) age, with those under 1 year of age and newborns at highest risk, 2) pre-existing medical conditions, especially heart, lung, and neurological disorders, 3) sex, with boys at higher risk than girls, and 4) obesity. Younger children, those with pre-existing conditions, and obese children should be strictly protected from exposure to help avoid severe infections. More research is still needed to fully understand risk factors and improve treatment for children.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    24 views2 pages

    Li Et Al., 2020 Zhou Et Al., 2020: Severe Covid-19 Infections in Children - 4 Major Risk Factors

    Uploaded by

    maggi
    The document identifies 4 major risk factors for severe Covid-19 infections in children: 1) age, with those under 1 year of age and newborns at highest risk, 2) pre-existing medical conditions, especially heart, lung, and neurological disorders, 3) sex, with boys at higher risk than girls, and 4) obesity. Younger children, those with pre-existing conditions, and obese children should be strictly protected from exposure to help avoid severe infections. More research is still needed to fully understand risk factors and improve treatment for children.

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    Severe Covid-19 Infections in Children – 4 Major Risk Factors

    Severe Covid-19 cases have been mainly observed in elderly patients with
    comorbidities such as hypertension and diabetes (Li et al., 2020; Zhou et al., 2020).
    Latest reports demonstrate that Covid-19 also infects children at any age with
    sometimes severe outcome. These emerging cases in children are alarming and
    underscore the danger of this disease. The good news is that severe disease course
    in children is rare and might be avoided in the future if we consider these 4 major risk
    factors:

    1. Age. This has been demonstrated in two different studies including more than
    1,000 children: patients younger than 5 years have a high risk for severe
    disease and very young patients (< 1 year) are particularly prone to require
    ICU admission (Götzinger et al., 2020; Dong et al., 2020). This suggests that
    newborns are at high risk and should be protected during their first year of life.
    Additionally, pregnant women close to term should be very cautious to avoid
    Covid-19 infection, which could be passed to the baby before or during birth.

    2. Pre-existing medical conditions. As in adults, pre-existing medical


    conditions significantly enhance the risk for severed Covid-19 disease in
    children. The major conditions are heart or pulmonary diseases and
    neurological disorders. More than 50% of children admitted to ICU suffer from
    a pre-existing medical condition, which makes it one of the leading risk factors
    (Götzinger et al., 2020). Surprisingly, latest findings suggest that
    immunosuppressive medication does not affect Covid-19 disease in children
    (Marlais et al., 2020; Götzinger et al., 2020), indicating that children can
    continue their immunosuppressive therapy.

    3. Sex. Boys are more often diagnosed with severe Covid-19 infections than
    girls (Götzinger et al., 2020). This tendency has also been found in younger
    adults. Differences in lifestyle, i.e. smoking and alcohol use, have been
    proposed to contribute to the increased mortality in males. However, this
    cannot explain the increased risk of young boys. There are likely more factors
    contributing to this phenomenon such as for example increased estrogen
    levels in females, which are known to boost the immune system.

    4. Obesity. Obese children have a higher risk for severe Covid-19 infection
    (Zachariah et al., 2020). Although the reason(s) are currently unclear,
    respiratory diseases such as asthma and high blood pressure are likely
    involved.

    Taken together, particularly children with medical conditions and younger than 1 year
    of age are at high risk for severe Covid-19 infection. These children should be strictly
    protected from exposure to Covid-19. Given the fact that a significant number of
    these children might stay in the hospital because of their medical conditions, special
    care should be taken to isolate them from Covid-19 patients.
    Currently, only few studies have focused on the role of Covid-19 infections in
    children and we are just beginning to understand who is at risk. Therefore, more
    research is urgently required to uncover the risk factors associated with severe
    disease in children. Future studies should also address the mortality of Covid-19 in
    children and particularly investigate how we can improve the treatment in order to
    save the life of these young patients.

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