US children hospitalized with COVID in record numbers
Source: Associated Press
US children hospitalized with COVID in record numbers
By MARTHA BELLISLE and TERRY TANG
December 30, 2021
SEATTLE (AP) — The omicron-fueled surge that is sending COVID-19 cases rocketing in the U.S. is putting children in the hospital in record numbers, and experts lament that most of the youngsters are not vaccinated.
“It’s just so heartbreaking,” said Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious-disease expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “It was hard enough last year, but now you know that you have a way to prevent all this.”
During the week of Dec. 22-28, an average of 378 children 17 and under were admitted per day to hospitals with the coronavirus, a 66% increase from the week before, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday.
The previous high over the course of the pandemic was in early September, when child hospitalizations averaged 342 per day, the CDC said.
On a more hopeful note, children continue to represent a small percentage of those being hospitalized with COVID-19 ...
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-pandemics-seattle-centers-for-disease-control-and-prevention-75a48388d6ca85ad88de300f32bfdec6