COVID-19 infections are increasing as schools reopen. What does that mean for kids?

As schools reopen, here’s what we know about kids and COVID-19 | Science News Children do get COVID-19, and some become very sick and even die. But the disease’s long-term effects on kids remain uncertain. Helen Thompson Science News

... a year and a half into the pandemic, there’s still much that researchers and doctors don’t know about the consequences of the disease for kids. Among the unknowns: How often do kids develop lingering symptoms, or long COVID-19? Why do some healthy children develop serious, run-amok inflammation weeks after recovering from COVID-19? For some kids, that complication comes even more out of the blue: They weren’t even aware they were infected.

Now the delta variant is causing yet more uncertainty. Studies primarily involving adults show that it’s making people sicker than earlier versions of the coronavirus (SN: 7/30/21). Will it hit kids harder too?

Researchers are beginning to gather the data needed to answer those questions, though there is a dearth of data so far on kids and delta. The emerging picture suggests that while the virus remains no big deal for many children, it is a serious problem for others. ...