This article covers the current theories on the role of children in this pandemic in transmitting the virus and to their infection rate. In the initial onset of coronavirus, the elderly population was hit the hardest while many younger people under 18 were asymptomatic or only had mild symptoms. In particular, the cases of deaths in children were particularly low, and the Washington Post article states that this is an anomaly amongst typical respiratory viruses, where children are often the first to become sick.
To highlight some of the theories the article mentions:
“One early theory about why children may be less reactive to covid-19 centers on the idea that their immune systems are less mature and may not overreact as some adult systems do.”
“Another theory is that the difference between adults and children could be the result of how the virus binds to cells in our bodies.”
“One working theory is that the condition [of Kawasaki disease-like symptoms] could be a sort of post-viral syndrome occurring after infection.”