COVID-19 Is “Very Different” in Young Kids Versus Adults

A study of 34 children hospitalized with a coronavirus infection in China reveals that fever and coughing were common, but the type of lesions typically seen in the lungs of adults with COVID-19 were rare.

Written byAbby Olena, PhD

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According to the World Health Organization, there have been nearly 8 million confirmed cases of COVID-19—the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus—as of June 16. In April, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that about 2 percent of US cases were in children younger than 18 years, and evidence from China, Europe, and the US has indicated that children tend to have milder cases. In a study published today in PLOS Medicine, researchers in China report that even among children hospitalized with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections, their illnesses were mild compared to adults’ experiences.

This study “adds to the growing body of literature that is giving us some experience with what COVID-19 looks like in children, which, as we’re learning, is very different than what COVID-19 looks like in adults,” says Jennifer Schuster, a pediatric infectious disease physician at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas ...

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Meet the Author

Abby Olena, PhD
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As a freelancer for The Scientist, Abby reports on new developments in life science for the website. She has a PhD from Vanderbilt University and got her start in science journalism as the Chicago Tribune’s AAAS Mass Media Fellow in 2013. Following a stint as an intern for The Scientist, Abby was a postdoc in science communication at Duke University, where she developed and taught courses to help scientists share their research. In addition to her work as a science journalist, she leads science writing and communication workshops and co-produces a conversational podcast. She is based in Alabama.
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