Brazil: Covid 19 kills babies and children at unusually high rate

In Brazil, the Official information on children who died from Covid-19 disagrees with that provided by groups of researchers and public health experts. Data from the Department of Health shows just over 1,100 children under the age of 10 who have died from the coronavirus so far in the pandemic, but a recent study alarmingly triples that number.

From Vital Strategies, a public health research group, they said official data on children killed by Covid-19 in Brazil is “well below actual numbers. According to their own figures, 2,975 children have already been killed by this disease, of which 1,013 have occurred this year. From Jair Bolsonaro’s government health portfolio, they recorded 1,122 dead miners.

“What we are seeing in Brazil is that the number of children who die whose specific cause of death is covid-19, it is higher than what we see in other countries. It is 10 times higher, ”said Dr Ana Luisa Bierrenback, epidemiologist at Vital strategies.

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In this sense, a month ago, the epidemiologist of the University of São Paulo, Fátima Marinho, said that “The official number of infant deaths in Brazil is very likely a much lower number”. And added to the log New York Times that the lack of widespread testing means that many cases go undiagnosed.

A study carried out by this health professional, on children under 5 killed by Covid-19, calculates in more than 2,200 have died since the pandemic, including more than 1,600 babies under one year of age.

On the lack of tests in infants as a cause of deathExperts from the South American country observe that there is a perception that the impact of covid on children “is slight”. Pediatrician Andre Laranjeira said this was a misconception and that “many pediatricians have some reluctance to order covid-19 tests for children when they have normal respiratory symptoms” because it is is normal for the time of year.

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Other factors

Beyond the symptoms, experts in Brazil, Europe and the United States agree that the Lack of timely and adequate access to health care for children is likely a factor in the number of deaths. “We have many poor parts of the country which are having great difficulty coping with this situation,” Dr. Marisa Dolhnikoff, researcher at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Sao Pablo, told CNN.

In addition to the problems of access to health, which are pre-pandemic, an outdated system due to the avalanche of patients in intensive care units and the resulting lack of available beds.

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Another key point is the socio-economic situation of the country. In this regard, Dr Laranjeira indicated that “when the death figures for the pediatric group are taken, more than 60% come from groups that are socio-economically vulnerable”.

A final factor, transversal to the rest, is politics. President Jair himself Bolsonaro has rejected the virus and his government has not taken strong action to promote social distancing.

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