Why Does Corona Affect Children And Elderly People?

Covid-19 has been encountered to be highly ill-boding for the elderly and children.

But why? Why are the elderly parents and kids not immune to Covid-19? Let us read.

Whether it's China, Italy or India, it has been witnessed that the novel corona virus contaminates the elderly people and the young ones the most. 

Two primary reasons contribute to this age-specific corona virus contamination viz. Immunity and Self-Healing powers. 

It is a science-based fact that immunity reduces with the increase in age and the newborns also have low immunity power. 

DNA is a genetic element that monitors most functions of the human body, however, it behaves sluggishly in newborns and elderly and so does not quickly & successfully go up against alien particles that enter the body. This brings down the immunity in newborns & toddlers. However, in elderly people, with the progress in age, the DNA communication gets distorted and the correct message to fight with alien elements is not conveyed effectively to the disease combating cells. 

Children of a very small age are at greater risk of getting infected by COVID-19 because of their low- immunity and self-healing abilities. At the same time, the descending resistance to diseases and body reserves of the elderly people also keep them at a higher risk of COVID-19. Besides, a wide array of comorbidities such as diabetes, chronic kidney disease, hypertension, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease further adds up the risk for them.

The human immune system has dual sets of defenses to fight against viruses and pathogens. Under the first set of defenses, Leukocytes also known as first-line warriors of cells, kill the invading microbes within minutes or hours. Under the second set, the second-line warriors and T-cells fight with targeted antibodies as late as a few days later.

With the advancement in age, the T cells of the body, which generate virus-attacking chemicals, start diminishing and their programming to safeguard the body against microbes gets corrupted. This opens up the avenues for corona-virus to take shelter in the elderly body easily & quickly and ultimately leading them to death by attacking the lungs and causing acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

So far, the evidence has showcased that the children are less vulnerable to the coronavirus, but this is not a complete truth, it's just that the virus affects the children differently than the adults. 

The defense systems of children, particularly those who are under the age of five, are not fully developed and this makes them more vulnerable to COVID-19. The central nervous, digestive, reproductive, and immune systems of such children are still under-progress to development. Besides being in a vulnerable stage, they invest their energies in growing rather than on accumulating the self-healing powers, this increases their chances of getting infected by Covid-19.

Under such a pandemic, the people of all ages, especially elders and children need acute care & precautions against Covid-19. Kitchen hygiene, frequent hand wash, use of alcohol-based hand rub, and masks are some of the must-have precautions.