With tens of millions of unvaccinated Americans at risk of serious illness due to Covid-19 infection, doctors and healthcare facilities nationwide are reporting a quantity increased Among young people hospitalized, some are too young to receive doses of the vaccine.
The nation’s largest children’s hospital, Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, is reporting a more than fourfold increase in Children’s Hospitalization from Covid-19 in the past two weeks, spurred on by the spread of Omicron and Delta . variants during the holiday season.
“We’ve got amazing numbers here from this Omicron surge,” Dr Jim Versalovic, director of pathology at Texas Children, said Monday. “We broke previous records that were set during the Delta rally in August.”
More than 700 children were hospitalized with Covid-19 in a 24-hour period last week, he said, and 90% of the cases shown through sequencing was caused by the Omicron variant.
Edith Bracho-Sanchez, primary care pediatrician and assistant professor of pediatrics at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York, said: “We’re seeing a lot more Covid than we think we are. seen in previous episodes”. Winter here is not over yet, and we are preparing for what is to come. “
Noting that some children with coronavirus may be seeking medical care for other conditions but test positive, Bracho-Sanchez told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Monday that it’s clear from what she saw in New York City that more children there had Covid-19 than ever before. .
“It would be foolish of us to continue mitigating Covid-19 in children at this point in the pandemic,” she said.
Early research shows that Omicron can cause more upper respiratory problems, unlike strains that have previously caused lower airway problems. However, upper airway conditions can be more dangerous for children than adults.
“We cannot treat the airways of children like the airways of adults,” she said. “That’s not how it works. And for pediatricians, we know that respiratory viruses can lead to … pneumonia and bronchiolitis, inflammation of the upper respiratory tract that makes children sick. Have trouble.”
Versalovic said Monday of the children at their facility in need of care, “It is clear that the majority of cases have Covid-19 as a major or significant contributor to their hospitalizations. they.”
Data released last week from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Health and Human Services shows that pediatric hospital admission hit record highs, eclipsing milestones from the 2020 holiday spike as well as the Delta spike in the summer and fall.
Cumulative hospitalization rates through November are about eight times higher for unvaccinated adults, and about 10 times higher for unvaccinated children ages 12 to 17, according to CDC data.
Follow CDC data. Nearly 59% of Americans aged 18-24 are fully immunized and those aged 25-39 are 63%.
Overall, 62% of the U.S. population is fully immunized, and more than 33% of those have been vaccinated. CDC data shows.
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