55% of child coronavirus cases are BOYS

55% of child coronavirus cases are BOYS, reveals CDC report - with up to one in five children who catch the illness needing hospital care

• More than half of 2,500 cases of coronavirus in under 18s were among boys
• Analysis by the CDC also showed US children don't always have symptoms 
• But children are less likely to be admitted to intensive care than adults, at 2%
• A separate CDC report revealed the risks for those with health conditions
• Half of diabetics and smokers with coronavirus are hospitalised and/or go to ICU

Health

Up to one in five children who catch coronavirus need hospital care and the deadly infection is more common in boys, official US figures show. 

Fifty-five per cent of the 2,500 coronavirus cases in under-18s were boys, a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found. Forty-two per cent were girls, while the gender was unknown for another three per cent.

Compared with adults, children are less likely to suffer the tell-tale symptoms and may not show any signs of the virus at all. And they are far less likely to be admitted to intensive care (two per cent) or die (0.1 per cent), according to the analysis.  

A separate CDC report of almost 75,000 patients also showed exactly how different conditions raise the risk of developing coronavirus complications in adults.

For example, half of former smokers or diabetics needed to be hospitalised and/or placed in intensive care because of complications. 

But the figures also showed only 1.3 per cent of the 7,000 patients for which there was full data available for were current smokers. In comparison, around 14 per cent of US adults smoke. 

Other studies in China have also had surprisingly low rates of smokers, and one team of scientists from Wuhan - where the pandemic began - even suggested smokers may actually be at lower risk. 

Leading experts who have scoured all of the available evidence collated on smoking and COVID-19 warn smokers are at higher risk of complications.

But they say the current warnings about smokers being at higher risk of catching the infection are based on assumptions and further trials are needed. 

The CDC research on children - called Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Children - formed part of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

More than 355,000 people in the US have tested positive for the disease, with coronavirus-related deaths crossing the 10,000 mark on Monday. 

Among 149,760 COVID-19 cases in the US analysed, the age had been reported in 99.6 per cent. 

Although children under age 18 make up 22 per cent of the US population, they account for only 1.7 per cent of diagnosed cases (2,572).

Forty-two per cent of infected children were girls and 55 per cent were boys, which matches up with data on adults, in which 53 per cent were males. In thirteen per cent of cases, the gender was not reported. 

Several studies have reported a majority of COVID-19 cases among men and a higher fatality rate compared with women.

Previously scientists have theorised that higher smoking rates or alcohol use have been behind gender disparity of COVID-19 cases, because both habits are linked to health conditions.

But this cannot explain the differences in infants and teenagers.