Indonesian Pediatrician Association: 20 Percent Of Children Infected With COVID-19 Have No Symptoms

JAKARTA - Head of the Child Protection Task Force of the Indonesian Pediatrician Association (IDAI) Dr. Eva Devita said that 20 percent of children infected with COVID-19 have no symptoms, even though there is a virus in their bodies.

"There is 20 percent of children who are asymptomatic, so children have the virus in their bodies but do not have symptoms. This is precisely what is dangerous because they can still transmit”, said Eva, quoted by Antara, Thursday, July 29.

Seeing this situation, Eva advised all parents to give immunization injections and vaccinations to their children in order to break the chain of the spread of COVID-19.

He said immunization is important for the body because it can ward off viruses or bacteria that enter the body. In addition, immunization is safe for children and can increase the antibodies in the body.

“When there is an immunization, it will go directly to or stimulate the third layer of defense, so the body does not need to get sick. But then this third layer of defense will spur the formation of specific antibodies”, said Eva explaining the importance of immunizing.

Eva revealed that one in eight people infected with COVID-19 is a child. About 12.5 percent of children have symptoms of COVID-19.

While three to five percent of patients died, 50 percent were children under five. This shows that most of the transmission of COVID-19 in children comes from family clusters.

Eva explained that research has been carried out regarding the administration of vaccines to children in China, which states that the vaccine is safe for consumption and provides a significant amount of effectiveness for the body's antibody formation.

Seeing the increasing number of children exposed to COVID-19, the Advocacy Manager of Wahana Visi Indonesia (WVI) Junito Drias believes that parents have a big role to play in ensuring that their children get vaccines and immunizations.

“So this is what we need to bring to the surface. Those children have the same right to be vaccinated, but adults have a big role to play in ensuring that children are vaccinated”, said Junito.

Participating in responding to the issue of giving vaccines to children, the representative of the Indonesian Children's Forum from Jakarta, Ghifara (16) said he wanted to get a vaccine to boost his immune system.

"I want to be vaccinated because I want to increase my immune system so I don't get COVID. I knew about vaccines from the first media, then I was registered for vaccines from school", said Ghifara.