Managing COVID-19 and Long COVID in Children

A pediatrician said that current clinical data shows that children are less ill after infection and can recover on their own without taking antiviral drugs. The virus is expected to be less harmful to children.

Pediatric specialist Liu Chengzhi cited a report recently released by the Children's Hospital of Fudan University on infection cases in mainland children, pointing out that child patients usually have mild or common symptoms and can recover on their own without taking antiviral drugs or oxygen. He also cited that no children had severe symptoms during SARS in 2003, and it is estimated that children infected this time will not be serious.

However, some parents are worried that if their children are not mature enough, will they be at a higher risk of complications if infected? Liu Chengzhi believes that the severity of infection in children is lower than that of adults or teenagers. He explained that in this new coronavirus outbreak, when the virus enters the respiratory system, the immune system responds to eliminate the virus, and inflammation and pulmonary fibrosis may occur in the process. On the contrary, children's immune systems are not mature and do not respond strongly to the virus, so the incidence of pulmonary fibrosis may be lower:

It is believed that the damage to the lung tissue is not great, so the disease is generally mild. The immune system will slowly eliminate the virus over time, and it can heal itself without the need for drugs.