A year into the pandemic, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues to threaten the lives of people --- definitely not sparing anybody --- whether young or old.
Mina, 51 (not her real name), as well as her three children, all came down with COVID-19 at the same time in September last year.
“Mabigat sa loob dahil buong pamilya kaming nag-positive sa virus (It's really hard for me because our whole family tested positive for the virus),” Mina told Manila Bulletin.
“Sobrang nag-aalala ako sa kanilang mga anak ko. Habang ako ay nasa ospital, mahirap na hindi ko sila nakikita o nakakasama (I am very worried about my children. While I was in the hospital, it was hard for me not to see them or be with them),” she added.
One of Mina’s close contacts was her 15-year-old son John (not his real name), who also turned positive. John experienced the usual symptoms of COVID-19---fever, slight difficulty in breathing, and tiredness. Fortunately, he recovered after a month.
John is among the 187,116 Filipino individuals aged 19 and below who contracted COVID-19 as of August 14.
Globally, children account for up to 15 percent of confirmed COVID-19 cases, said Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society of the Philippines (PIDSP) President Dr. Mary Ann Bunyi.
Children infected with COVID-19 usually experienced mild symptoms, said Bunyi.
“Generally ang mga bata ang ipinapakita lang na mga sintomas ay mild. Ano ito? Lagnat, sipon, ubo, at kusa na lang gagaling. Iyong iba nga wala pang sintomas (Generally, children only show mild symptoms. What are these? Fever, cold, cough, and typically--- they will recover. Some children, meanwhile, are asymptomatic),” she said.
However, children with comorbidities are more likely to develop the severe form of COVID-19.
“Iyong mga batang may underlying medical conditions, sila po kadalasan ang puwedeng lumala ang COVID (Children with underlying medical conditions, oftentimes --- their health condition could worsened due to COVID-19),” said Bunyi.
“Ito po iyong mga batang may sakit sa puso; may sakit sa bato; may cancer; may hika; may mga neurologic disorders katulad ng mga epilepsy, cerebral palsy; iyong may diabetes; iyong mga matataba, sobrang tabang bata; at saka po iyong mga bata younger than one year old (These are children with heart ailment; with kidney disease, have cancer, those with asthma; those with neurologic disorders such as epilepsy, cerebral palsy; those with diabetes; those who are obese; as well as children younger than one year old),” she added.
Amid concerns with the Delta coronavirus variant, Bunyi said “more evidence is needed to say that it is more fatal in children.”
PIDSP Vice President Dr. Fatima Gimenez said that the majority of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines are “still in the adult population with increased mortality in the older age group.”
“In children, there are more cases in the adolescent age group and higher mortality in the very young but not as much as the adult population,” said Gimenez.
“The scene seems to be the same --- fewer children get hospitalized for COVID-19 than adults,” said Bunyi.
Gimenez noted that children “usually acquire the infection from adults.”
"With the reality that there's not enough vaccine supply as of yet, the priority is to vaccinate the older age groups who are more vulnerable and people at high risk of acquiring infection---as they, in more likelihood, are the primary sources of infection for our children,” she said.
“Once a sufficient percentage has been vaccinated in the priority adult groups, children 12-years-old and above may be considered for vaccination, with priority given to those who live in areas with high transmission and those with comorbidities,” she added.