[nudephil (OP)]

Here's a question we received from Angela:

I was wondering, given that children seem to be little impacted by COVID, whether they have been exposed to a vaccine or something similar - a more recent development, which older people haven’t had - such as HPV or the combined MMR vaccines? I’m not familiar with when children are exposed to such vaccines, or how many they have these days. Is anyone looking into this data?

Does anyone know?

[set fair]

The question of why children are so little affected is unanswered. Some vaccines do inrease white blood cell numbers. Nevrtheless children are more prone than adults to most infectious diseases. So general opinion is that this isn't a major factor.

[alancalverd]

The danger from COVID seems to arise from excessive immune response, producing inflammation of lung tissues. It's arguable that, having a less-developed immune system, children simply do not over-react to the infection.   

[Bored chemist]

Here's a question we received from Angela:

I was wondering, given that children seem to be little impacted by COVID, whether they have been exposed to a vaccine or something similar - a more recent development, which older people haven’t had - such as HPV or the combined MMR vaccines? I’m not familiar with when children are exposed to such vaccines, or how many they have these days. Is anyone looking into this data?

Does anyone know?

I'm pretty sure that children are less affected than adults in developing countries where vaccines are rare.

[set fair]

The danger from COVID seems to arise from excessive immune response, producing inflammation of lung tissues. It's arguable that, having a less-developed immune system, children simply do not over-react to the infection.

There is a hormone which moderates the immune response - calcitriol, most of us have levels below the endocrine society's recomendations.

[Bored chemist]

There is a hormone which moderates the immune response - calcitriol, most of us have levels below the endocrine society's recomendations.

There's another one- cortisol- which many of us have too much of- since it's stress related.

And neither of them seems to be particularly related to the topic.

[alancalverd]

levels below the endocrine society's recomendations.

Another black mark for the Almighty. Whether you believe in creation or evolution, the result falls below the recommendations of selfappointed experts. Every time I wake up, I am amazed to have survived against the odds.

[chris]

Could some childhood vaccine be protecting children against COVID?

Very unlikely.

The immune system is extremely specific in the response that is mounted against a stimulus; childhood vaccinations do not contain components resembling coronaviruses, so little priming against SARS-CoV-2 will occur. That said, there is some evidence that immune stimulation from a vaccine does cause a small increase in general immunological "tone", but probably not sufficient to lead to more robust immunity against Covid-19, which is, after all, apparently an immune over-reaction.

[Petrochemicals]

Here's a question we received from Angela:

I was wondering, given that children seem to be little impacted by COVID, whether they have been exposed to a vaccine or something similar - a more recent development, which older people haven’t had - such as HPV or the combined MMR vaccines? I’m not familiar with when children are exposed to such vaccines, or how many they have these days. Is anyone looking into this data?

Does anyone know?

Nope, given the vaccination rate of late, the age children are vaccinated, there would be far more deaths than there are.

Most likely the immune system of children is far more attentive to learning of new viruses, even the ones who are not in child pool circulation. Perhaps the blood of children can  render some cure.

[tackem]

Children have prominent tonsils until around 12yo. Tonsils are the gatekeeper to the immune system giving an early identification of an invading organism allowing an immune response.
All invaders are novel to children, so corona virus is just another novelty which their immune system counteracts.