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Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, experts from different countries are unanimous in saying that children are rarely affected, and all the more so for severe forms. But with the death of several adolescents, the news painfully reminds us that they are not completely safe from developing a serious attack by the disease, even if this remains extremely rare.
Covid-19: several deaths among children and adolescents
Among the victims of the coronavirus, we deplore the death of a 16-year-old girl in France, a 14-year-old teenager in Portugal, another 13-year-old in London, a 12-year-old girl in Belgium, two babies under ‘one year in the United States. As many deaths which came to contradict the first data on the children, which put them completely safe from the serious forms and from a death related to the disease.
What are the risks for children?
The figures are reassuring, however. Even if children and adolescents are as likely as adults to be affected by Covid-19, they nevertheless remain a very small minority for serious attacks. According to data from Public Health France of March 24, those under 15 represent only 2% of hospitalizations for suspected contamination. Figures that are also verified in studies carried out in China and the United States, where the same pattern is emerging: under 20s were much less affected by severe forms of the disease. On the occasion of the death of the young Frenchwoman Julie, Professor Jérôme Salomon, Director General of Health, nevertheless recalled that complications in young people “arise from time to time for multiple reasons. We see it in particular in certain viral infections (with) exceptional extremely severe forms ”.
When complications occur in young people, they are most often related to other causes. This is what doctors call “comorbidity”, that is, the presence of risk factors linked to another pathology. Yet, among the deaths that occurred, some young people did not appear to be suffering from a pre-existing disease. According to the foreign press, this is the case of young Ismail, who died in London. “To our knowledge, he did not have any underlying health problems,” his family said. On the other hand, the causes of the death of the 14-year-old Portuguese man seem less certain. According to the “Jornal de Noticias”, the teenager suffered from psoriasis – a disease that can weaken the immune system – and although infected with the coronavirus, he could have succumbed to meningitis.
In an article in Le Parisien, Dr. Robert Cohen, doctor of pediatrics, recalls that each year, “we do not know why in some, these infections evolve unfavorably. Infectious diseases are sometimes unpredictable but it is quite rare. You know every year, children also die from the flu, measles and chickenpox ”.
Covid-19: children too must be vigilant
It is essential that children and adolescents be as careful as adults. First, to protect themselves and second, to protect others. Indeed, they can be “healthy carriers” of Covid-19, that is to say they can carry the virus in their body without showing symptoms, but transmit it to others.
Children and adolescents must therefore implement, under the vigilance of parents, the same barrier gestures and behaviors as adults: impeccable hygiene (washing hands, coughing in his elbow, etc.), and social distancing.
Do you want to talk about it between parents? To give your opinion, to bring your testimony? We meet on https://forum.parents.fr.