Since the start of the coronavirus epidemic, scientists have been studying the pathogen and its impact on the health of adults and children. What do they know today about its consequences for young people?
Known information about Covid-19 and children
A significant number of studies have been published over the past year: research on its structure, its way of infecting the body, its impact on children, etc. The new coronavirus can also still spark debate among some professionals, who have conflicting opinions. Also, there are still many questions to which they are busy finding answers. Regarding children, there are different versions, which have evolved. According to Inserm (National Institute of Health and Medical Research), children are generally less affected by the coronavirus and less frequently than adults. It is for this reason that knowledge remains limited to this day. In order to accelerate medical research on Covid-19 and children and to make scientific advances, the Institute has set up the Pedstart network, a dedicated working group. Its mission is to bring together information in real time, thanks to clinical studies carried out in France, on Covid-19 in children. The symptoms seen in them are much the same as in adults. However, they tend to experience significant fatigue, with or without fever and muscle pain. They are usually irritable and have digestive problems such as diarrhea or nausea. Children can also cough and have rapid breathing.
Serious forms of Covid-19 in children
Santé Publique France has set up active surveillance, after the reporting of a few cases of children with myocarditis “with cardiogenic shock”. This condition has characteristics similar to Kawasaki disease, but is actually called ” pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndromes Or PIMS. In total, between March 1 and December 27, 2020, 352 cases of PIMS were identified by the French health authorities. In addition, nearly three-quarters of children have been diagnosed positive for Covid-19, representing 72% of them. The link between Sars-Cov-2 and PIMS was probable in 5% of these small patients. For scientists, “ the data collected confirm the existence of a rare multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children with frequent cardiac involvement, linked to the COVID-19 epidemic “. However, these cases remain very rare, with an estimated incidence rate of 20.2 cases per million inhabitants. Children represent less than 1% of hospitalized coronavirus patients.