Are kids still relatively safe?

[Pooshweens]

Just seen an article about a sharp rise in complications in kids that can send them into intensive care

The one positive thing about CV I thought, was that kids are mostly unaffected by the virus, assuming no health conditions

Is the risk still relatively small for kids? This news has really scared me...

I think so yes

Yes I think so. There is an article on the Guardian I think which states most of the kids have an underlying heart condition so there appears to be some weird kind of correlation where having this has kicked off the immune system.

So my reading of it is this good that it's been called out so drs know to treat it as an emergency if they see it but the actual risk to kids is the same as it ever was (is low).

Yes, asbolutely. I think that Covid-19 presents in diffferent ways in different age groups. We have recently learned that in the 18-40 age group, we are seeing a lot more stroke like effects and embolisms, because this is how it often presents in this age group. Doctors are now discovering a new presentation for the under 10s. This doesn't necessarily mean the numbers are up in any considerable amount, it just gives a different symptom to look for.

Ok thank you, that's reassuring that it hasn't become worse for kids per se

That article is based on a dozen cases or something.

I don’t think it should be given much media airtime, it’ll just scare monger. The only reason for talking about it is to alert the medical profession to look out for it.

Equally the strokes article is only reporting from the US and I don’t think the numbers are significant there either.

The death rate for children - and all those under 24 - is lower than usual at the moment. This suggests the risk to children is very low. It is flat for young adults and then is much higher than normal for those over 50 onwards.

This all suggests children are low risk. Fewer children are dying now than in a normal year, probably because of fewer accidents.

It's a very small number of children, in the same way that a small number of children die from all sorts of things that most parents don't have to worry about. They are still the safest group by a long way.

There is an article on the Guardian I think which states most of the kids have an underlying heart condition so there appears to be some weird kind of correlation where having this has kicked off the immune system

That article is poorly written and incorrect. The children don't have an underlying heart condition. They have the symptoms of toxic shock and atypical Kawasaki disease, a type of vasculitis that can cause damage to the heart. The cause of Kawasaki disease is unknown but it is thought to be partly genetic and possibly triggered by a viral or bacterial infection, ie it could have been triggered by COVID-19.

Given that people have been suffering blood clots, heart attacks and strokes and vasculitis-like "COVID toes" as a result of COVID-19, it is plausible that this is linked too.

There are very few cases though, it seems to be rare.

To reassure you as of yesterday out of the 18500 COVID deaths in England only 9 were under the age of 20 (Source NHS COVID data). Given there are 15 million people in England under the age of 20 this gives a 1 in 1.6 million chance of an under 20 year old dying from COVID. By comparison there is a 1 in 1.2 million chance for all ages in the UK to be hit by lightning.

Children are massively safe.

As @1dayatatime said - less than 10 under 20 year olds in the UK have died from Covid.

Think about how many under 20 year olds have leukemia, cystic fibrosis, severe asthma, heart defects or any other number of conditions which puts them at increased risk from complications arising from infectious disease.

And yet less than 10 have died. Covid really is not a threat to children.

Doctors and parents are now more aware of the immune response so kids will get even better care.

Also fewer are in accidents, being exposed to other risks etc so please don’t worry

Yes, children are pretty safe. The last I looked, there have only been 9 deaths of children and teens under 20 in the UK.

I'm not worried for DS at all.