The hospitalization rate of COVID-19 in children ages 0 to 17 multiplied by five from late June through mid-August as the delta variant consolidated in the United States, the CDC said Friday .
According to data from 14 states, including New York and Connecticut, the CDC said the COVID-associated hospitalization rate for children and teens in the week ending Aug. 14 was 1.4, an increase of almost five times the week ending June 26 and almost a totally pandemic high.
Of course, the CDC said the proportion of seriously ill children, including those in need of ICU admissions, was almost the same after the delta climb as before.
But the overall hospitalization rate was drastically higher and, in children aged 0 to 4, the rate was almost ten times higher.
The new data is sure to add fuel to the debate over how children should return to school and social activity, especially because there are no vaccines for children under 12 yet.
Anecdotal evidence has suggested that more children got sicker as the delta variant was imposed, but the CDC makes it clear that it is more than just an anecdote.
“Implementing preventive measures to reduce transmission and severe outcomes in children is critical, including vaccination of eligible people, use of universal masks in schools, use of masks recommended for people ≥ 2 years of age in other indoor public spaces and child care centers and quarantine as recommended after exposure to people with COVID-19, ”the authors wrote in the CDC report that accompanied the data.
Source: CDC
The CDC also said that among children ages 12 to 17, who are already eligible for vaccination, the hospitalization rate was 10 times higher for the unvaccinated than for the fully vaccinated.