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Why does COVID-19 spare children? Vanderbilt may have found the answer

news.vumc.org

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Mike Osborne)  --  Vanderbilt researchers believe they now know why COVID-19 rarely proves fatal among children.

The finding was published this month in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

In most patients, COVID-19 turns deadly when the virus invades the lungs. The damage done makes it difficult to breathe. Severe cases end up on a respirator. Many don’t survive.

The Vanderbilt researchers discovered that a specific enzyme allows the virus to target the lungs.

Children generally have less of that particular enzyme and so rarely become seriously ill.

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