U.S. children’s hospital at risk of Delta attacking children

August 17, 2021- Pandemic, COVID-19 is not a less serious illness for children than adults, and it remains true. However, the advent of the Delta has increased the risk for children, creating a dangerous situation for hospitals across the United States that treat children.

Last week, about 1800 children were hospitalized with COVID in the United States, an increase of 500%.

Percentage of COVID hospitalizations for children since early July, According to data from the CDC..

Emerging Data from a large study in Canada Children who test positive for COVID-19 during the delta wave are more likely to be hospitalized than when previous versions of the virus dominated the infection. The new data confirms what many pediatric infectious disease professionals say they are seeing, that is, younger children with more serious symptoms.

That may sound worrisome, but keep in mind that the overall risk of hospitalization for children with COVID is still very low. Current statistics Maintained by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“This is different”

At the Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, they saw Delta coming.

Since last year, all children who come to the emergency department of the hospital have been tested to screen for COVID.

In the past waves, doctors usually found a child infected by chance.They have other problems, broken legs, or appendicitisSays Dr. Nick Highsmith, MD, Medical Director of Infection Prevention in Hospitals. But within the last few weeks, heat,sore throat, cough, A runny nose has begun a COVID positive test.

“Positive numbers jump from about 8% to nearly 10% to 20% and can reach 26% or 30% in the last few weeks,” says Hysmith. “Then we started seeing the children sick enough to be hospitalized.”

“Last week we really saw an increase,” he said. As of August 16, 24 children were admitted to the hospital with COVID-19.7 of the kids are in the PICU and 2 are Ventilator..

As of Friday, the Arkansas Children’s Hospital had 23 young COVID patients, 10 in the intensive care unit, and 5 on ventilators. according to NS Washington post.. In the state’s only children’s hospital, Mississippi’s children, 22 young people were hospitalized for money and three were in intensive care as of August. 16, According to the hospital Samaritan’s Purse, a non-profit relief organization, has set up a second field hospital underground in Children’s to expand the hospital’s capabilities.

“This is not the case,” says Hysmith. “What we are seeing now is that previously healthy children have symptomatic infections.”

This increase in pathogenicity occurs at bad times. Schools across the United States have been reopened for face-to-face classes, some for the first time in over a year. 8 states We blocked districts from requesting masks, but more districts made masks an option.

Children under the age of 12 are not yet accessible vaccinationAs a result, schools that avoid masks face increased exposure to more dangerous bacteria with little protection.

More than just COVID

Second, there are potential effects of the virus that need to be addressed.

“Currently, not only is the number of acute children increasing. SARS-Hospital CoV2, MISC is also starting to rise-or Multisystem inflammatory syndrome Charlotte Hobbs, MD, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Mississippi Children’s Hospital, said. “We are just beginning to see those cases and expect it to get worse.”

In addition to the misery of COVID, another virus is also taking advantage of this growing mix of children in the community. RS virus (RSV) Hospitalize about 58,000 children Under the age of 5 every year in the United States. The typical RSV season begins in the fall and peaks in February with the flu.This year RSV season is early, And it’s ferocious.

The combination of the two infectious diseases has had a major impact on children’s hospitals, overlaid on the indirect effects of pandemics, such as the growing population of children and teens in need. mental health Care in the wake of the crisis.

“All of this is happening at the same time,” said Mark Wietecha, CEO of the Children’s Hospital Association. “It’s unusual for our hospital to be so crowded in August.”

And while children’s hospitals are tackling the same labor shortages as hospitals that treat adults, the pool of potential staff is much smaller.

“We cannot easily hire doctors and nurses from adult hospitals in a practical way to staff in children’s hospitals,” says Wietecha.

Pediatricians and nurses were trained to care for adults before specializing, but clinicians who primarily care for adults are usually not taught how to care for children. ..

Clinicians have fewer tools to combat COVID infections in children than adults have.

“There has been a lot of research on treatments and treatments for acute SARS-CoV2 infections in adults. We have little data and information on children, and some of these treatments are under the EUA. Not even available [emergency use authorization] For children, for example Monoclonal antibody“Hobs said.

Call: “This is not a political issue. It is a public health issue. Limits.”

Antibody treatments are widely deployed to relieve pressure on hospitals treating adults. However, these treatments are not available for children.

This means that children’s hospitals can quickly be overwhelmed, especially in areas with high infection rates, low vaccination rates, and parents yelling about masks.

“So we have this series of events that we really don’t like for kids under the age of 12,” Hobbes said.

“Universal masking should not be discussed, as one of the adult vaccinations that can be done to protect these vulnerable people,” she said. “This is not a political issue. It is a public health issue. Limit.”