According to Dr. Scott Gottlieb — former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner for President Donald Trump — when it comes to kids, Americans should not be so quick to liken the coronavirus to the flu.
Margaret Brennan, host of CBS’ “Face the Nation,” mentioned her discussion with Senior White House advisor Jared Kushner.
She noted Kushner claimed the majority of those dying from the coronavirus is over 70, and he is comfortable sending his children back to school because they have a six times higher chance of dying from the flu than the coronavirus.
Brennan asked Gottlieb if those numbers sound right to him.
“Well, I don’t know where the six times comes from. We need to be careful, I think, about making comparisons to flu. This infection hasn’t been as prevalent in children as flu is each year,” Gottlieb said.
He added, “There’s been about 330,000 diagnosed infections. If you believe we’re diagnosing one in five to one in 10 infections in children, maybe there have been about three million kids who’ve been infected with this.”
Watch his comments below:
@ScottGottliebMD says Americans need to be "careful" in making comparisons of #COVID19 to the flu when it comes to kids, noting flu prevalence is far greater among children:
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) August 16, 2020
Flu➡️upwards of 400 deaths a year
COVID-19 ➡️90 deaths so far pic.twitter.com/xi6McTsN4B
Gottlieb recognized the flu is more prevalent among children as there are upwards of about 400 tragic deaths per year while there have been 90 deaths from the coronavirus.
He indicated there is a concern with the coronavirus causing post-viral syndromes in children, including multisystem inflammatory syndrome, which has affected 570 children thus far.
“There’s a lot we don’t understand about COVID and kids. I think we need to be careful about making comparisons to flu and the death and disease we see in flu relative to COVID,” Gottlieb said.
While Gottlieb acknowledged the flu is more common among children, he did not neglect the possibility of children contracting the coronavirus.
Gottlieb said during his last appearance on “Face the Nation,” “Children are not immune to this virus,” as IJR previously reported.