If COVID-19 generally attacks children less often, an American study published on Friday recalls that children are not spared for as many complications related to the virus, especially babies.
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The US federal public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has identified, across 14 states, 576 children who required hospitalization having contracted the coronavirus between 1is March and July 25.
The researchers found that infants under three years old were overrepresented among this group, accounting for almost one in five hospitalizations among those under 18.
In fact, this American research indicates that infants can be severely affected by COVID-19. For the period of the research, CDC estimates that the incidence rate of hospitalizations among those under two years of age was nearly 25 per 100,000.
We are well below these levels when we look at 2-4 year olds (4.2 per 100,000) and 5-17 year olds (6.4 per 100,000).
“Signs and symptoms reported on hospitalization differed by age: fever or chills were the most common sign and symptom overall (54%) and were most common in children under the age of 2 years (74.6%). Gastrointestinal symptoms were reported by 42% of children hospitalized overall, ”says one in the document from the US national body responsible for public health.
For comparison, this rate is 164.5 per 100,000 for adults, again according to CDC.
Main factors
Children who suffer from COVID-19 to the point of going to the hospital often already have a medical history. Of the approximately 222 children whose medical records could be verified, more than 40% already had one or more health conditions, most of the time obesity.
Researchers also found that African Americans and Latinos were overrepresented among those under 18 who had to go to hospital. More than 16 in 100,000 Latino children have ended up in a hospital bed due to COVID-19, a statistic that drops to 10.5 for black youth and finally stands at just 2 per 100,000 for white Americans.
In the end, a third of the children hospitalized will have had to be in intensive care and only one patient among all the files analyzed by the CDC will have lost their life.
Still, the US agency is concerned that the hospitalization rate has risen slightly over the weeks during the research.
“Strengthening prevention efforts is essential in collective settings that serve children, including daycares and schools,” insisted the study authors.
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