Authors
Riaz Ia, Reshma Rajb
aDepartment of Paediatrics, SAT Hospital, Govt Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram
bDepartment of Paediatrics, SAT Hospital, Govt Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram
Abstract
respiratory infections in humans in various parts of the world for a considerable period of time.
The current Coronavirus pandemic started in Wuhan city, Hubei province, China, where The Health Commission of Hubei province first reported a pneumonia cluster in adults of unexplained aetiology on December 31, 2019. A local seafood and wet meat market was identified as a potential source. Later it was known the disease have human to human spread and WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on January 30, 2020. The culprit was identified and named as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)and on February 11, 2020 the clinical disease caused wasgiven a nomenclature by the WHO as COVID-19.
In a preliminary report from CDC published on April 6, 2020, the incidence among children (0-18yrs) is recorded as 1.7% out of a cohort of around one and a half lakh cases of COVID-19. This is in striking contrast with the usual pattern of respiratory infections where infants and children has a higher propensity for infection. SARS-CoV-2 infection rate in children is seen to be less in reports from other countries as well. The current knowledge also tells as infections with milder symptoms are more common in children than adults when it comes to COVID-19 disease.