COVID-19 Why Are Children Less Affected Cedars-Sinai Skip to main content Close Select your preferred language English عربى 简体中文 繁體中文 فارسي עִברִית 日本語 한국어 Русский Español Tagalog Menu Close Call 1-800-CEDARS-1 toggle search form Close Los Angeles, 21 April 2020 06:00 AM America/Los_Angeles COVID-19 Why Are Children Less Affected Children who get COVID-19 tend to have milder symptoms than adults. Photo by Getty. Portrait of of School kid wearing protective face mask for pollution or virus, Child in school uniform wearing protection mask and showing thumbs up while waiting for school bus in the morning. (Portrait of of School kid wearing protective face mask f One of the mysteries of COVID-19 is why children are much less likely than adults to be harmed by the disease. To answer this question, Cedars-Sinai's Newsroom spoke to Priya Soni, MD, Cedars-Sinai Pediatric Infectious Disease specialist. "Not only are fewer children testing positive for COVID-19," said Soni, "but those who do test positive are likely to have milder cases." And that is the opposite of most viruses. "There is no other respiratory virus that we know, that affects adults so much more severely than infants," Soni said. "For example, when a child gets a viral infection there are usually more intense symptoms, accompanied by high fevers. In the case of COVID-19, it's the adults who are getting the high fevers, having severe complications and even dying." Soni says U.S. studies confirm the COVID-19 data from China and Italyt hat show children represent only around 2% of total infections in the population. There are many theories but no one clear answer why. One theory is that because children have young immune systems, and they do not develop the very aggressive immune response known as a cytokine storm that adults form when they get the virus. It is that intense reaction to the virus that helps perpetuate damage in the lungs and other organ systems, often irreversibly harming adult patients. Another theory that applies to babies is that maternal antibodies transferred from the placenta during the third trimester as well as antibodies found in mother's breast milk may offer protection from the virus, especially within the first year of life. There is no evidence of the virus being transferred via breast milk. Some children already in daycare and school are exposed to many novel respiratory infections and this may cause them to have a higher baseline of antibodies against other respiratory viruses and this could be offering some protective effect. One worrisome note is that children can be infected but will not show any symptoms, or have such mild symptoms that it can be perceived as a common childhood virus. In fact, Soni says children can unknowingly pass on the virus to adults. "Children and young adults often feel invincible," Soni said, "but even though they may be feeling fine, they must still take the same precautions as adults to play their part in stopping this pandemic. This is why school closure is such an important piece of controlling rapid spread of this infection." Related Stories RSS feed - Related Stories (opens in new window) View all headlines - Related Stories Daya s Mystery What Was Causing a Young Girl s Internal Bleeding September 02, 2022 06:00 AM America/Los_Angeles The Dhillon family seemed to be living the California dream, enjoying the waterway just steps from their home on Naples Island. But a little more than five years ago, when their daughter, Daya, began feeling ill, the Dhillon family’s California … Read more Q&A Advice for a Healthy Stress-Free Return to School August 18, 2022 06:01 AM America/Los_Angeles For the past two-plus years, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted children’s education and frustrated parents. 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Their hypothesis, published in Frontiers in Immunology, could explain why some people still have symptoms long after the … Read more Show previous items Show next items Contact the Media Team Email: [email protected] Contact Soshea Leibler Soshea.Leibler@cshs.org Share this release COVID-19 Why Are Children Less Affected Share on: Twitter Share on: Facebook Share on: LinkedIn Search Our Newsroom Social media Visit our Facebook page (opens in new window) Follow us on Twitter (opens in new window) Visit our Youtube profile (opens in new window) (opens in new window) Latest news 07 Oct 2022 - HealthDay: Black Women Less Likely to Get Laparoscopic Fibroid Surgeries 07 Oct 2022 - Faculty Publications: Sept. 29-Oct. 6 07 Oct 2022 - Fine-Tuning Organ-Chip Technology 06 Oct 2022 - KCRW: Want New Omicron Booster? Wait at Least 2 Months After Last Shot 05 Oct 2022 - Cedars-Sinai Schedules Free Flu Vaccine Clinics 04 Oct 2022 - Cedars-Sinai Showcases Hispanic and Latinx Art Newsroom Home