COVID-19 mortality rate in children is U-shaped

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Author Spotlight: Advancements in Multiplex Detection of Respiratory Viruses
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Nina Khera1,2, Didac Santesmasses3, Csaba Kerepesi3

  • 1Buckingham Browne and Nichols School, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

Aging
|August 19, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Children have lower COVID-19 mortality than adults, with risk lowest between ages 3-10. COVID-19 deaths are significantly less common than other causes like pneumonia in children, especially the youngest.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Epidemiology
  • Infectious Diseases

Background:

  • Children generally exhibit better protection against COVID-19 compared to adults.
  • Limited understanding exists regarding pediatric COVID-19 susceptibility patterns and comparative disease risk.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To define COVID-19 mortality patterns in children.
  • To compare pediatric COVID-19 risk relative to other diseases and age-specific all-cause mortality.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of COVID-19 mortality rates across different pediatric age groups.
  • Comparison of COVID-19 mortality with all-cause mortality and mortality from other infectious diseases (e.g., pneumonia, influenza).

Main Results:

  • COVID-19 mortality exhibits a U-shaped curve in childhood, decreasing to a minimum at ages 3-10 years, then increasing with age.
  • Childhood COVID-19 mortality rates are substantially lower than those for other diseases, with the greatest relative protection observed in the youngest children.
  • The proportion of COVID-19 deaths among all-cause deaths increases with age throughout childhood and adulthood.

Conclusions:

  • Children, particularly the youngest, experience a lower mortality risk from COVID-19 compared to other diseases.
  • The findings highlight the need to consider age-specific risks and relative disease burdens when assessing COVID-19's impact on pediatric populations.

Keywords:
COVID-19SARS-CoV-2agingmortalitypediatrics

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