The All India Institute of Medical Sciences, AIIMS recently conducted a study on children suffering from COVID-19. According to the study, adolescents suffered from lower mortality and lesser symptoms as compared to the adults.

Key findings

• 1% of the adolescents suffer from moderate COVID-19 disease. 84.6% suffered from mild COVID-19. 11.5% suffered from body aches. 14.9% of the children suffered from fever and cough. 6.3% suffered from severe COVID-19 disease. 6.2% of the children faced breathing difficulties.
• The study also said that 50.7% of the adults suffered from breathlessness during the second wave. 7.3% of the children were in need of oxygen support. 2.3% required invasive ventilation. 2.8% wanted non – invasive ventilation. Invasive ventilation is pressure delivered through endotracheal tube. Non – Invasive ventilation is the oxygen support provided by face mask.
• 1% of the children were medicated with steroids. 16.9% of the children were given with Remdesivir.
• Currently, the in – hospital death rates of children in the age of 15 years to 17 years is 3.1%. During the second wave, it was 19.1%. This shows that the in – hospital mortality rates in children has decreased as compared to that of second wave.

Why was the study conducted?

Children of the age group 15 years to 17 years are being vaccinated since January 3, 2022. And doctors wanted to study the COVID profile of these children before the vaccination programme begins.

MIS – C

MIS – C is a multisystem inflammatory syndrome. It is condition, where antibodies turn violent and attack human body. MIS – C has been observed in children. 12 out of 10,000 COVID-19 infected children suffered from MIS – C. The MIS – C condition develops in four to six weeks after the children recover from COVID-19.