Why COVID-19 Swamp Children’s Hospital Children

The current surge in COVID-19 cases has been particularly devastating to children, as children’s hospitals across the United States have reported a large influx of patients. The surge is driven primarily by Omicron variants. Omicron variants account for 95.4% of new cases in the country. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (See graph below.) Since vacation, pediatric hospitalization at Texas Children’s Hospital in Texas, the largest pediatric hospital in the United States, has increased by 400%. CNN Report..

Jim Versalovich, MD, a pathologist at the Texas Children’s Hospital, told CNN: It broke the previous record established during the August Delta Surge. “

There was a lot of hope (probably False hope) Similar to the initial iterations of Delta and SARS-CoV-2, it is fixed in early data on Omicron suggesting that it affects the upper respiratory tract rather than the lungs.The COVID-19 mutant, which can cause mild symptoms and knock out deadly delta mutants to become the predominant strain, is probably End the pandemic.. However, the proliferation of COVID-19 in children results in a pause.

“The pediatric population is more vulnerable,” reminds Linda Spaulding, a member of RN-BC, CIC, CHEC, and CHOP. Infection control today^®of(ICT^®) Editorial Advisory Board. “We see five-day-old children infected with COVID, and their lungs are not fully developed, their brains are still growing, and their hearts. Is still fragile, so I don’t know what the long-term impact on its population will be. “

Spalding interview When ICT^® In February 2021, one of the long-term effects COVID-19 may have on children is Pediatric Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS-C). As a CDC I will explainThis condition, which can also affect adults, in which case it is called MIS-A, is associated with COVID-19, which causes inflammation of various body parts such as the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, and skin. Rare but serious condition. Eyes, or gastrointestinal organs. “

Vaccines are not the answer for many pediatric patients, as there is no approved vaccine for children under the age of five, Spaulding said. “When we deal with pediatric populations, we need to release them from the disease and then monitor the development of MIS-C,” says Spaulding of the current COVID-19 surge.

Even children who can be vaccinated are not as vaccinated as adults.by CDC, About 61.2% of the total population of the United States is fully vaccinated. Vaccination of children is the least, with 53% of children between the ages of 12 and 17. Only 14.7% of children between the ages of 5 and 11 Vaccinated..

Edith Bracho Sanchez, MD, a primary care pediatrician and assistant professor of pediatrics at Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center in New York, said the fact that Omicron affects the upper respiratory tract rather than the lungs is not good news for pediatric patients. I agree with you.

“You can’t treat a child’s airway like an adult’s airway,” Bracho-Sanchez tells CNN. “That’s not the way it works. And for us pediatricians, we know that respiratory viruses can cause croup, bronchiolitis, and inflammation of the upper respiratory tract that annoys children. . “

“In the early days, many children suffered from asthma, and COVID-19 is not a friend of asthma,” added Spaulding. Spalding encourages parents to “do their job of protecting their children and keeping them out of the community and crowds. Always meet and wear masks at masked shops. I have a baby in a stroller that isn’t there. “

In discussions on whether schools should be open to in-class instruction, Spalding believes it is not time to reopen schools amid the massive surge in COVID-19.

“Schools are open, and the number of children returning home from school with COVID-19 has increased significantly, and people seem to be surprised at it again. As a result, more children will be admitted to the hospital. increase.”