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Holly Yan, CNN
Published Monday, August 23, 2021 7:15AM EDT
Published Monday, August 23, 2021 7:15AM EDT
Juliet Daly, 12, leans on her mother Jennifer Daly on their front porch, as Jennifer recounts the ordeal of almost losing Juliet to the coronavirus, in Covington, La., Thursday, April 30, 2020. A team of pediatric cardiology specialists found that Juliet had acute fulminant myocarditis (AFM), an uncommon heart condition that tends to present with sudden onset acute heart failure, cardiogenic shock or life-threatening arrhythmias. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
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(CNN) -- The myth that kids can't get seriously sick from Covid-19 keeps getting debunked as more children get hospitalized during the Delta variant surge.
More than 49,000 children have been hospitalized with Covid-19 since August 2020, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This month, an average of 276 children were getting hospitalized with Covid-19 every day between August 14 and 20, CDC data shows.
More than 49,000 children have been hospitalized with Covid-19 since August 2020, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This month, an average of 276 children were getting hospitalized with Covid-19 every day between August 14 and 20, CDC data shows.
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"Half of the children that we've admitted have been under the age of 2," Dr. Mark Kline, physician-in-chief of Children's Hospital New Orleans, said this month.
"This virus that we're dealing with now is a game changer. And it's just so easily transmitted from person-to-person." Now doctors say it's crucial to protect children against the Delta variant -- not just for the sake of their health and to keep in-person learning, but also to help prevent more aggressive variants from emerging. Almost half of children hospitalized with Covid-19 had no known underlying condition Much has changed since the last school year. A more contagious variant -- Alpha -- has been replaced by an even more contagious variant -- Delta -- as the dominant strain of coronavirus in the US. In just two months, Delta jumped from 3% to more than 93% of sequenced coronavirus samples in the US, the CDC said. |
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And the weekly count of children newly infected with Covid-19 has more than tripled in less than a month.
About 39,000 new cases were reported during the week ending July 21, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
That number soared to 121,427 new cases during the week ending August 12, the AAP said.
About 39,000 new cases were reported during the week ending July 21, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
That number soared to 121,427 new cases during the week ending August 12, the AAP said.
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Among children getting hospitalized with Covid-19, many were previously healthy.
Almost half -- 46.4% -- of children hospitalized with Covid-19 between March 2020 and June 2021 had no known underlying condition, according to CDC data from almost 100 US counties. Covid-19 deaths in children shouldn't be ignored, CDC chief says While children are far less likely to die from Covid-19 than adults, the deaths are still significant, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said. At least 471 US children have died from Covid-19, according to CDC data. For the 2019-20 flu season, the CDC reported199 confirmed pediatric flu deaths and an estimated 434 pediatric flu deaths. One reason why Covid-19 is deadlier for children than other infectious diseases is because many children are vaccinated against other diseases, said Dr. James Campbell, professor of pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. |
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"Nobody's dying of polio, nobody's dying of measles in the United States. Nobody's dying of diphtheria," Campbell told CNN last month.
But while children ages 12 to 17 can get a Covid-19 vaccine, many have not done so. And it could be several more months before a vaccine is authorized for children under age 12.
Rebecca Calloway's 7-year-old daughter Georgia is one of thousands of young children testing various doses of Covid-19 vaccines to make sure they're safe and effective before they get authorized.
Part of why Calloway enrolled Georgia in the pediatric vaccine trial is because she recently lost her 3-year-old daughter to another unexpected disease -- Type 1 diabetes -- and doesn't want any more families to lose a child to Covid-19.
While childhood deaths from Covid-19 and Type 1 diabetes are rare, "You don't want to be that statistic," Calloway said.
But while children ages 12 to 17 can get a Covid-19 vaccine, many have not done so. And it could be several more months before a vaccine is authorized for children under age 12.
Rebecca Calloway's 7-year-old daughter Georgia is one of thousands of young children testing various doses of Covid-19 vaccines to make sure they're safe and effective before they get authorized.
Part of why Calloway enrolled Georgia in the pediatric vaccine trial is because she recently lost her 3-year-old daughter to another unexpected disease -- Type 1 diabetes -- and doesn't want any more families to lose a child to Covid-19.
While childhood deaths from Covid-19 and Type 1 diabetes are rare, "You don't want to be that statistic," Calloway said.
Read more here.
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