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Researchers studied 65 children as well as 60 adults with COVID-19 in the New York City hospital system and found the children stayed in hospital for shorter periods of time, needed ventilators less frequently, and had lower mortality rates. That’s according to research published in Science Translational Medicine. (Read Also: Healthy Activities With Family That Can Be Done During a Pandemic)
The findings are in line with what other scientists have noticed, that children are not as sick from the coronavirus as adults. The CDC, for example, says that about eight per 100,000 children are hospitalized for COVID-19, compared to 164.5 adults per 100,000. However, scientists are not sure why this happened.
By looking at blood and cell samples, the researchers found that children produced higher levels of two cytokines or immune system proteins than did adults.
According to a Education on the Immune Network, the cytokine interleukin 17A (IL-17A) helps promote response immune system early in the infection, and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) tries to stop the virus from replicating. The younger the patient, the higher the level of cytokines.
These two cytokines in particular help ward off lung disease, one of its defining problems COVID-19.
“The takeaway message is, children can become infected and become very sick. But, in general, it gets better when infected with the virus, “explained study co-author Betsy C. Herold, who is also the Head of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Albert Einstein College. Web MD.
“These age-related differences may reflect differences in immune response,” he continued.
The researchers say the condition may help them find ways to boost certain types of immune response.
Herold said the findings may be something vaccine manufacturers want to pay attention to. The vaccines currently being studied mostly try to increase antibody levels. (Read Also: How does the body react when infected with the new corona virus?)
“We may want to consider assessing vaccines that promote immunity in other ways, such as by strengthening the innate immune response,” he concluded.
(tsa)
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