According to the Associated Press reported on the 7th, according to the only age group data released by the US government agency on Friday (7th) that is not yet eligible for the new crown vaccine, in recent weeks, the number of children under 5 years old in the United States hospitalized due to new crown pneumonia has soared to the highest level since the beginning of the epidemic.
Nurse Rita Ray collects nasal swab samples for 5-year-old Sebastian Hernandez. Associated Press photo
More than 4 out of every 100,000 children are hospitalized
Data released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that since mid-December 2021, hospitalization rates for children under the age of 5 in the U.S. have soared from 2.5 per 100,000 children to more than 4 per 100,000 children as the highly contagious Omicron variant spreads across the country. CDC Director Rochelle Valensky said the worrying trend among children too young to be vaccinated highlights the need for older children and adults to get vaccinated to help protect those around them. According to CDC data from more than 250 hospitals in 14 states, the incidence for children aged 5 to 17 years is about 1 in every 100,000 people.
Valensky said: "Overall, paediatric hospitalization rates are at the highest level compared to any time before the outbreak. She noted that just over half of children aged 12 to 18 are fully vaccinated, while only 16 percent of children aged 5 to 11 are fully vaccinated. According to the CDC, overall hospitalization rates for children and adolescents remain lower than in any other age group, accounting for less than 5 percent of the average daily admissions. As of Tuesday, the average number of patients under the age of 18 admitted to covid-19 each day was 766, double the figure reported two weeks ago.
Nurse Morgan Flynn works in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit at a medical center in New Hampshire. Associated Press photo
The CDC said the surge in hospitalization rates for children under 5 years of age was driven by high hospitalization rates in five states— Georgia, Connecticut, Tennessee, California and Oregon, with the largest increase in hospitalizations in Georgia. Valensky said at the briefing that hospitalizations in these states include children hospitalized for COVID-19 and children admitted for other reasons but found to be infected with COVID-19.
Children with COVID-19 are more likely to develop diabetes
John McGuire, director of intensive care at Seattle Children's Hospital, said the Omikeron variant caused the disease in children to be less severe than the Delta variant. Earlier this week, U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said the disease caused by the Omicron variant was generally less serious, but because of its extremely contagious nature, a high number of infections meant that more children would be infected, and a certain percentage of them would end up in the hospital. Fauci also said many children hospitalized for COVID-19 have other health conditions that make them more vulnerable to complications of the virus. These complications include obesity, diabetes, and lung disease.
Another report released by the CDC shows that children infected with COVID-19 are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with diabetes as children who are not infected with the virus. Scientists are investigating why, but say the virus appears to attack insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
Upstream News Compiled by Jiang Mingjing