COVID-19 in Children and Taking Prevention Measures

Everyone can contract the coronavirus. But most kids who become infected might not necessarily show signs. Sometimes the child might not show any signs at all. Therefore, you should know the symptoms of COVID-19 in children and why they are affected differently to help prevent the spread of the disease.

What Are the Symptoms of COVID-19 on Children?

Your child might show mild or no signs of COVID-19 at all. Therefore, you should be keen on the mild symptoms of fast action to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Children tend to recover after two weeks, and the symptom for COVID-19 resemble common cold signs.

Some of the signs of COVID-19 that are visible in children include:

• Fever
• Nasal congestion and a runny nose
• Dry coughs and sore throat
• Difficulties breathing or shortness of breath
• Loss of taste or sense of smell
• Fatigue and muscle aches
• Vomiting and diarrhea
• Headache
• Conjunctivitis or pink eye

If you suspect your child has contracted the coronavirus, you should consider contacting an emergency clinic near you for medical help. Also, you can keep your child away from others and handle them with care to prevent contract the disease.

Cause and Spread of the COVID-19 Infection

The origin of the novel strain of coronavirus is in Wuhan, China, but the cause remains unclear. However, the SARS-CoV-2 strain of coronavirus spreads from human to human, especially through close contact.

When a COVID-19 patient coughs or sneezes, they expel nasal or oral droplets. If you get into contact with the droplets, you might contract the virus. The distance with which you can get into contact with the droplets is six feet.

Touching surfaces with infected nasal and oral droplets and touching your face is another way you can contract coronavirus. The disease is more contagious when the signs are at its peak. However, children tend to show mild or no signs but can still spread the coronavirus.

How Are Babies Affected by COVID-19?

COVID-19 infection is rare among children under one year. However, children under the age of one might develop more complications than adults. Babies have small airways and weak immune systems, thus breathing problems and sometimes fatalities if left uncontrolled. Therefore, you can consider contacting an emergency clinic in Lake Jackson for medical help.

Newborn babies can contract the coronavirus from infected caregivers. If you are still waiting for your COVID-19 test results during childbirth, you should wear a clean cloth face mask and have clean hands when handling the baby.

COVID-19 Test

If your child is showing any signs of COVID-19, you should consider ER COVID testing. At Altus ER in Lake Jackson, the doctor might use a rapid test to check for COVID-19.

The rapid test is a finger-prick blood test whereby the doctor checks for the reaction of the body against coronavirus. With the rapid COVID-19 test, you can get your results in less than an hour since the samples don’t need to be sent to a lab.

Alternatively, your doctor can use a swab test. The doctor will swab nasal or oral fluids off your child and send them to the lab for testing. During the swab test, children might not be compliant. In such a case, the doctor will try to prepare the child for the swab test.

Prevention and Control of COVID-19

COVID-19 doesn’t have a cure. Therefore, the best cure for the disease is prevention. However, there is no approved vaccine for coronavirus yet.

To prevent contraction and spread of COVID-19, you can follow the precautionary measures as provided by the CDC or WHO. Some of the precaution measures you can take to prevent the spread of coronavirus include:

• Regular handwashing to eliminate the viruses from the surfaces
• Avoid close contact with people that are showing signs of COVID-19 and teach your children about the need for social distancing
• Clean and disinfect surfaces and toys your children use when playing
• When you are going out in public places, you can consider wearing a clean cloth face mask
• Get a COVID-19 test to prevent spreading it to others

COVID-19 Testing Near Me

Do you need a COVID-19 test in Lakeside? If so, you can consider Altus Emergency Center in Lakeside for testing. Alternatively, you can search for “emergency room near me.”