The number of hospitalized young children with the coronaviruses rose last week to the highest levels since the beginning of the epidemic, according to data released on Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The data included children who were admitted to hospitals for reasons other than Covid, and the increase was observed in children who were 4 and younger.
The rise may be due to the spread of other respiratory infections and the surge of Omicron cases.
The data does not show a steep rise in coronaviruses infections among hospitalized children of other ages, and federal health officials were considering the possibility that Omicron may not be as mild in young children as it is older children.
Children with the variant are less likely to be seriously ill than adults, and even young children seem less likely to need a ventilator than those who have been in the previous surge.
Rochelle Walensky, the director of the C.D.C., told reporters at a news briefing on Friday that they had not yet seen a signal of increased severity in this age demographic.
More than four in 100,000 children ages 4 and younger were admitted to hospitals with the coronaviruses as of January 1st, double the rate reported a month ago and three times the rate this time last year.
The rate of hospitalized 5- to 11-year-olds with Covid was the same as in the past.
Only 16 percent of children from 5 to 11 years old have been fully protected from vaccine-related diseases, and Dr. Walensky urged everyone who was eligible to get their vaccines as soon as possible.
She said that the rates of hospitalizations for children 0 to 4 who are not currently eligible for Covid-19 vaccine are increasing. It is critical that we surround them with people who are vaccine-free.
There has been a rise in the number of regional medical centers. At the end of the summer and early fall, the hospitalizations of young children were the highest they had been before.
Experts are cautious about interpreting an increase in hospitalizations for children as a sign that a variant is more severe in children than adults. The rise in hospitalizations of children due to the Delta andBeta variant was caused by the contagiousness of the variant.
This time, at least part of the increase in cases is a reflection of Omicron's surge across all age groups. One in five of the 600,000 cases the nation is recording are in children.
The chair of the committee on infectious diseases at the American Academy of Pediatrics said that the more children get infections, the more they will be sick enough to be hospitalized.
At Seattle Children's Hospital, about 21 percent of children are positive for the coronaviruses, compared with an average of 1 percent and a high of 3 percent during the Delta wave.
Dr. Zerr said that the figures were a game-changer.
Some of the rising rates in young children may be due to the fact that doctors are quicker to admit a young child than an adult with similar symptoms. The increase might be too steep to be explained by the usual factors.
The rise may be related to the fact that young children are more vulnerable to infections in the upper airway, which is where Omicron is thought to be more concentrated.
Dr. Oliver said that young children have smaller airways.
It seems reasonable that if it looks like it is affecting the upper airway more, they would be more impacted. They are more at risk for that because of the longer, more severe cases.
It's possible that more hospitalized children aged 4 and younger have tested positive for the coronaviruses than those 5 and older. It is also why young children are more vulnerable to diseases like respiratory syncytial virus and to having a seal-like cough.
The numbers add to the worry of the parents of young children as they wait for the vaccine to become available.
A teacher in Chicago, Henriquez has three children, two of them younger than 5. Her younger children, Maxi, 4 and Sofia, 2, have the same coronaviruses, but Maxi has no symptoms and only has a cough.
Ms. Henriquez said she was keeping an eye on their symptoms. She said that you have to be careful because you don't know if your child will end up in the hospital.
The C.D.C. collected new data from Covid-Net, a network of 14 sites that covers about 10% of the US population. The agency says that the rates are likely to be underestimated because of the lack of tests.
Many children who become seriously ill have other conditions or weak immune systems. The kids are at high risk right now. We are seeing more of them now.
Dr. Julie Binder has two daughters. Dr. Binder said that Annie, her older daughter, has an undiagnosed medical condition that results in some very bizarre reactions to viruses. Two years ago, Annie was 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217
Dr. Binder and her husband have been adamant about keeping Annie as normal as possible during the Pandemic. They have kept her home from day care in order to protect her from infections after the holiday.
The data was released on Friday and Dr. Binder said he was glad that he heard it. I would have been more comfortable in this wave if she had beenvaccinated.
A coronaviruses vaccine is not currently available to children under the age of 5 in the United States. Many older children are still unvaccinated.
Less than 25 percent of children from 5 to 11 and less than 60 percent of adolescents from 12 to 17 have received at least one dose of a coronaviruses vaccine.
If you are worried about your child getting sick, you should be immunizing them. It is the easiest thing we can do to keep our kids healthy.
One in three children hospitalized with Covid was obese. According to the data collected by the C.D.C, about half of the people had no other known medical conditions.
