The surge in Covid-19 hospitalizations among US children spurs new Omicron concerns

Carl Odhner and Ahmed Abourenein

Within a few weeks, Omicron Variants supply thousands of fuels New arrival COVID-19 19 hospitalizations in We.. Children,increase New arrival concern Many unvaccinated Americans under the age of 18 New arrival undulation..

Average number of 7 days a day hospitalizations for Children The period from December 21st to December 27th has increased by more than 58% nationwide to 334 in the past week. 19 19% Of gro of all agesupsData from We.. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows. According to the CDC, less than 25% of 74 million Americans under the age of 18 are vaccinated.

Omicron The case is undulation Experts warned that schools would reopen the week after winter vacation, making it even faster across the United States.

Doctors say it’s too early to tell Omicron Causes more serious illness Children It is one of the key factors driving its highly contagious nature over other variants of the coronavirus. hospitalizations.

“It will infect more people, and it will infect more people. I’ve seen the numbers grow. hospitalizationDr. Jennifer Nayak, an infectious disease expert and pediatrician at the University of Rochester Medical Center, said:

“What we are looking at Children Under the age of 5 remains unvaccinated, so there is still a relatively large population Children Being naive, there is no existing immunity to this virus, “says Nayak.

but new York City, which has some of the highest vaccination rates in the United States, is fully vaccinated only about 40% between the ages of 5 and 17 compared to over 80% of adults.No licensed vaccine We.. Children Under 5 years old.

hospitalizations in new York City under the age of 18 increased to 109 between the 22nd and December of the week starting December 5th. 19 19 And December 23rd. Children Children under the age of 5 accounted for almost half of all cases. hospitalizationThe s of people under the age of 18 throughout the state was 184 from December. 19 19 From December 5th to December 11th from 70 to December 23rd.

Cases are skyrocketing in other parts of the United States in Children..Ohio saw a 125% increase hospitalizations in Children Under the age of 17 in the last four weeks, according to data from the Ohio Hospital Association.

Florida, new In Jersey and Illinois, the average number of 7 days has at least doubled. hospitalization CDC data for underage patients with coronavirus over the past week show.

Slow uptake

young Children Has a much lower vaccination rate than other age groupsups, Some families are hesitant to introduce New arrival Vaccines for their youngest members.

Less than 15% of We.. Children Ages 5-11 are fully vaccinated by Pfizer and BioNTech. COVID– –19 19 The shots are shown by federal data, approved for that age group in late October.

The doctor said it was more demanding COVID– –19 19 Symptoms they see during hospitalization Children This month includes dyspnea, high fever and dehydration.

“They need to help breathing, they need to help get oxygen, they need extra hydration. They are sick enough to go to the hospital, which is scary for doctors, It’s scary for parents, “said Rebecca Madang, a pediatric infectious disease expert. new Langone Health Hospital System at the University of York.

The undulation In some cases, it happened because the school was closed due to winter vacation. Prior to the vacation, over 1000 classrooms were completely or partially isolated due to outbreaks. new York city data.The city said it would open a school for about a million people Children As planned on January 3rd, following the district’s winter vacation.

According to a surveyubsAmount of tantalum COVID– –19 19 transmission in Children Tend to happen outsSchool ide.But Madan and others are expecting New arrival If spikes in Children Holiday gatherings can confuse attendance in the classroom.

“The virus could just be outsMart, what penetrated beyond it and what parents did to protect them Children“William Schaffner, a leading infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, said.

(Report by Carl O’Donnell new York and Ahmed Abournein in Washington, DC. Edited by Michele Gershberg and Aurora Ellis)

For more information on the coronavirus, visit the following website: longislandpress.com/coronavirus..

Register for the Long Island Press e-mail newsletter here..Sign up for Long Island Press home delivery here..Sign up for discounts by becoming a Long Island Press community partner here..