They May Think They're Invincible, But Teens Can Get Really Sick With COVID-19 Too

We all want COVID-19 to be over. And just because states are reopening, even though many experts feel that’s ill-advised, it seems like a lot of people are getting a little too comfortable and ignoring some of the precautions we are still warned to take.

The information around COVID-19 is constantly changing and it can be confusing for everyone involved. However, as the adults, we are the ones who need to take control and make our children and teenagers realize that wearing a mask, keeping their distance, and giving up things they are missing and want to be able to do is a small sacrifice.

Teens’ brains are constantly telling them nothing bad will happen to them. They feel invincible. And according to The Rochester Medical Center there’s a reason: “The rational part of a teen’s brain isn’t fully developed and won’t be until age 25 or so.”

But something our youth need to realize is they can get sick from COVID-19. At first, with the little information that was available with the virus, it was thought that younger people would only have mild symptoms, but that’s proving to not be true.

I know I am driving my children bonkers — they want their life to return to normal as soon as possible and I want that for them, but we can’t do it until we continue to see numbers fall. And well, right now that’s not happening. To add to that bad news, younger people are getting really sick from COVID-19.

Lisa Maragakis, M.D., M.P.H., senior director of infection prevention at Johns Hopkins, reports everyone is at risk to get really sick saying, “Coronavirus infections requiring hospitalization are not only possible in younger adults, but the rate of these cases is higher now that the virus is spreading across other countries.”

A report from the Center for Disease Control shows COVID-19 is being found in younger age groups, and some are showing serious symptoms–even needing to be placed in the ICU. What many may not realize is out of the cases in March alone, 38% of people who needed hospitalization due to COVID-19 symptoms were 20-54 years old.

That means those who thought they were in the clear because they didn’t have any underlying conditions and were under 60, but they were wrong. Parents of young adults need to face the fact that they can not only be asymptomatic and spread the virus, but their child can be knocked out for several weeks with COVID-19. Beyond that, there are complications from the virus that seem to be affecting younger populations especially — such as MIS-C, an inflammatory condition associated with COVID-19.

Today reports the number of COVID-19 cases are still rising, and with that, doctors are seeing more people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s testing positive. The spike in these age groups are because of states reopening and more younger are people gathering in larger groups, and going to bars, according to the article.

They aren’t just experiencing mild symptoms either. Many of them are speaking out and reporting just how sick they are getting. It is being described as starting out as mild symptoms, and feelings of having a head cold to feeling the worst sickness they’ve ever experienced, and they are warning others about being safe and protecting yourself from getting COVID-19, regardless of age.

The Washington Post reports that young people are the ones who are making the cases go up as places and activities are opening up.

Vice President Pence tells ABC News, “The better part of half of the people that are testing positive in the new cases are people under the age of 35… so we’re working with those states and supporting measures that are being taken to address those issues in an appropriate way.”

The article goes on to say when COVID-19 started spreading across the country, the average age of those infected was 65. Now, that’s changed and the average age of those testing positive is 35.

Since the information on COVID-19 is always changing, we need to keep up on it and pay attention. Instead of thinking younger generations couldn’t get very sick, there has been proof that isn’t true.

This is far from over. Keep your teens at home. And yourself, too. Don’t think just because you are in your 30s, it’s safe to go to a large gathering. Wear your mask, and for the love of God, think about the fact you can still contract COVID-19 and spread it to many people, even with mild symptoms.