Kids and adults get coronavirus at the same rate, study says. Here’s what to know

Children catch coronavirus at the same rate as adults but experience milder symptoms, according to a new China’s Shenzhen province study.

The report was conducted by John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health scientists and the Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, according to LiveScience. The study looked at 391 people who were infected with coronavirus. The study is not yet peer-reviewed, LiveScience reported.

The study found that 7.4 percent of kids who were exposed to carriers of coronavirus tested positive — compared to 7.9% of adults who tested positive, according to the study. Children tend to have milder symptoms because they have “healthier lungs” than adults and adults are “more likely to have dangerous immune responses to respiratory diseases,” according to LiveScience.

The World Health Organization-China and the Joint Mission previously released a report saying children have a “relatively low attack rate” of coronavirus at 2.4 percent, according to USA Today.

Coronavirus has been described as “relatively mild” for children, according to USA Today.

China’s CDC also reported that no children under nine years old had died in China, the outlet reported.

Children might also be less likely to get sick because they’re more protected from the outbreak, according to BBC.

“One reason we haven’t seen so many cases in children is they are protected at the beginning of outbreaks: parents keep children away from the sick,” Dr Nathalie MacDermott from King’s College London told the outlet.

This story was originally published March 9, 2020 at 7:14 PM with the headline "Kids and adults get coronavirus at the same rate, study says. Here’s what to know."