What we know about COVID-19 and kids

What we know about COVID-19 and kids

Doctors can’t yet explain why so many infected children don’t show symptoms. E.R. Chulie Ulloa, MD, MSc, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and assistant professor at the UC Irvine School of Medicine, says researchers are investigating several possibilities. They include differences in the respiratory tract or the immune system, viral interference—the idea that kids get so many other viruses, they may be blocking the novel coronavirus—and even ordinary childhood vaccines. “There’s been some data to suggest that immunization to other common childhood infections confers a kind of cross-protection,” Ulloa says.