Why is COVID-19 impacting adolescents less seriously than adults? How come the overwhelming majority of kids do not get infected with this strain of coronavirus? And when and how are kids able to combat coronavirus with seemingly ease and efficiency?
Kids respond quickly to different viruses
An explanation for the relative good fortune of children is indicated in a research comparing the immune reaction of children with that of adults. In infants, according to studies reported in Science Translational Medicine, a subset of the immune system that has developed to defend against unfamiliar pathogens easily kills the coronavirus until it harms their bodies.
Dr. Betsy Herold, a pediatric infectious disease researcher who directed the research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, told the New York Times that children respond to this virus immunologically differently. She continued that in adults, the immune reaction is more subdued.
Donna Farber, an immunologist at Columbia University in New York City, clarified to Nature that kids are very adapted and very well prepared to react to new viruses.
Farber, who is not a participant in the report, said that even though children are contaminated with SARS-CoV-2, children are more likely to undergo moderate or asymptomatic disease.
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - FEBRUARY 27: A South Korean child wears a mask to prevent catching the coronavirus (COVID-19) while riding a scooter on February 27, 2020 in Seoul, South Korea. The government has raised the coronavirus alert to the "highest level" as confirmed case numbers keep rising. The government reported 506 new cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) bringing the total number of infections in the nation to 1,766 with the potentially fatal illness spreading fast across the country.
Aging immune system responds differently
One reason for the connection between age and the seriousness of illness is that more cells become inactive when the immune systems of humans age.
Experts believe senescence faced by one's immune system cannot act as efficiently or be controlled as effectively as they mature.
The researchers told The Scientist that in adults, the inherent reaction is slow. Hence, they end up playing catch-up and becomes exuberant.
Another indicator that the reaction of children to the virus varies from that of adults is that on a regular RT-PCR examination, certain children show antibodies unique to SARS-CoV-2 and display COVID-19 symptoms, but never test positive for the virus.
Other coronavirus exposure
There are several more coronaviruses with symptoms similar to a common cold that infect humans. In infants, these viruses are normal. Kanta Subbarao of the Doherty Institute in Melbourne, Australia, told The Scientist that their team was unable to point out any variables that might provide COVID-19 with any cross-immunity.
She indicated that the protection acquired from circulating "common cold" viruses to viral proteins moderates the trajectory of COVID-19. Subbarao explained, though that her argument is a "hand-waving hypothesis" but research is worthwhile.
It has recently been proposed that serum from people who have healed from COVID-19 could be excreted to SARS-CoV-2 contaminated patients to cure them.
After the initial immune surge, researchers will need to understand what occurs in babies, experts said. Children develop a robust immune response, but after the threat has passed, their bodies must turn it off rapidly.
Experts believe that children will ultimately build adaptive defenses so powerful that they will not undergo adaptive defenses if this virus becomes widespread, like the coronaviruses that cause common colds.
ALSO READ: Volunteer for Pfizer's Experimental COVID-19 Vaccine Shares Side Effects from Trial
Check out more news and information on COVID-19 on Science Times
