Children can become seriously ill from coronavirus, study warns

As COVID-19 spreads throughout the world and the U.S., it's accurately been seen as the biggest concern for people over 60 and those with respiratory issues or compromised immune systems. But as a study of new coronavirus cases in China shows, it can turn serious — and even deadly — for seemingly healthy children as well.

The study, as reported by The New York Times, focuses on China as the epicenter of COVID-19, and looks at 2,143 cases of children who were infected with the disease and reported their illness to the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as of Feb. 8. Half of those kids became mildly sick with fevers, fatigue, coughs and other manageable symptoms. About another third had moderate symptoms, including pneumonia or lung problems. And four percent had no symptoms at all.

But things were far more concerning for 125 children included in the study. They suffered "serious symptoms" that included "dire respiratory problems," the Times reports via the study. Thirteen of those serious cases were labeled "critical" because those children were "on the brink of respiratory or organ failure," the Times writes. And one of them, a 14-year-old boy who was confirmed to have COVID-19, died.

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Of the 2,143 cases studied, only a third were confirmed with lab testing, while the others remained suspected cases based on symptoms, exposure and X-rays. Find the whole study in the medical journal Pediatrics, and read more about it at The New York Times.