Are Children Dying from COVID19?

This subject came up in conversation today. A nurse (friend of a friend) will be working in an intensive care unit and is, I take it, worried about bringing the illness home to her children. How concerned should she be?

Today, The Hill reports that a one-day-old infant died "as a result of the novel coronavirus in Louisiana's Baton Rouge Parish, a coroner reportedly confirmed." But the details are more complicated. Here's what the coroner says in a video tweeted by David Begnaud with CBS This Morning:

Here is the coroner pic.twitter.com/TshwmCMRmT
— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) April 6, 2020

"The mother was having COVID19 related symptoms...shortness of breath...she ultimately had to be placed on the ventilator...and has tested positive for the COVID19 virus....she went into pre-term labor, and ultimately...because the baby was extremely premature, did not survive. The child as of now has not tested positive for COVID19." The baby was only 22 weeks along.

An infant counted among the COVID dead in Illinois "had bowel blockage and organ failure" and died four weeks after being hospitalized. "A full investigation is underway to determine the cause of death." It's been over a week, and I don't see any news of the result of the investigation.

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont announced that a baby in his state died of COVID19--but the coroner has not named the cause of death. The baby had coronavirus, but may have died of other causes. Journalist Candace Owens says she can confirm the baby's caregiver accidentally suffocated it and then called the police.

In another case in Louisiana, the father of a 17-year-old who reportedly died of COVID says he had understood his son died of heart failure.

There's a difference between dying with coronavirus and dying from coronavirus, and at times these are getting mixed up. I don't know why. But since the overwhelming number of deaths are among seniors and those with conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, overweight, cancer, and hypertension--conditions not usually found in children--concerned parents should scrutinize news stories of kids dying of COVID19.

Hat tip to Matt Christiansen for his video, "What Constitutes a Coronavirus Death? The Sketchy Cases in the Total."

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