Since its appearance before last Christmas, several trade magazines have wondered whether children were more susceptible to the new variant of Covid-19 (the so-called "English" variant) isolated on 18 December 2022 (it is called B.1.1.7. 202212 or VUI 01/XNUMX).
According to the WHO, the virus has already undergone several variations but this is the strongest and most contagious of all: the new variant in fact contains 14 mutations including the one that increases its transmissibility among humans. But how does he behave with children? Answers to date have been vague, with the recommendation being utterly prudent.
The English variant does not affect children more
The experts of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) answered online to the most common questions about the variants of Sars-Cov-2 and also to this: are children or are they no longer contagious in the case of the "English" variant?
"So far the most troubling variants do not appear to cause more severe symptoms in any age group. The disease presents itself with the same characteristics and symptoms are the same as in all other variants of the virus. In terms of transmissibility the 'English' variant manifests an increase for all age groups, including children. There are still a lot of studies going on, but at the moment the English variant does not seem to specifically target children, it does not infect them in a particular way than others. As for the other variants, the data are not yet sufficient to formulate hypotheses ", reads.
How to recognize the symptoms of Covid-19 in children
The main symptoms of Covid-19 in the pediatric population are:
- Temperature
- Dry cough
- Headache
- Sore throat
- Nausea / vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Muscular pains
- Nasal congestion / runny nose
- Breathing difficulties
These are the same symptoms caused by the flu or other viral infections, so it is difficult to distinguish the coronavirus from these diseases. The only different symptom that can occur in the case of the coronavirus compared to other flu syndromes it is the loss of taste and smell, but remember that Covid can also be totally asymptomatic.
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