US babies, children under 5 hospitalised at higher rates in Omicron wave

NEW YORK • Babies and children younger than five were hospitalised with coronavirus at much higher rates during the latest US surge, when the highly transmissible Omicron variant was dominant, compared with earlier periods in the pandemic, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hospitalisations of these children were about five times higher during the Omicron surge, between Dec 19 and Feb 19, than during the period when the Delta variant was dominant, between June 27 and Dec 18.

Rates of admission to intensive care also rose dramatically among young children, reaching a peak on Jan 8.

Children of colour younger than five wound up in hospitals at disproportionate rates. Only one-third of the children were white, while 28 per cent were Hispanic, and 23 per cent were black.

Hispanic people represent 18 per cent of the population, and black Americans make up 13 per cent. Of the hospitalisations of children younger than five, 6 per cent were Asian or other Pacific Islander children, about the same as their representation in the population.

Experts say children of colour are infected at higher rates because they are more likely to have parents who work in public-facing jobs and more likely to live in poverty and in multi-generational households.

Although hospitalisation rates for young children are still relatively low compared with the rates among older Americans, the virus poses special risks to young children and especially to babies.

Infants six months old and younger were the most vulnerable, representing nearly half of the hospitalisations among young children during the Omicron period.

They were hospitalised at rates about six times as high at the peak of the Omicron surge, compared with the peak of the Delta wave.

Two infants died, the CDC found.

More than 1,000 children younger than age 18 have died of Covid-19 in the US since the pandemic started, including 350 children younger than five.

But experts also worry about the long-term effects, as well as multi-system inflammatory syndrome, a rare but serious condition.

The CDC study found that two-thirds of the children and babies hospitalised were healthy and did not have underlying medical conditions.

Meanwhile, Dr Anthony Fauci, the Biden administration's top adviser on the pandemic, predicted on Sunday an "uptick" in coronavirus infections similar to the current increase in Europe, despite the current decline in cases, hospitalisations and deaths in the United States.

It is "no time at all to declare victory, because this virus has fooled us before and we really must be prepared for the possibility that we might get another variant", Dr Fauci said on ABC's This Week. "And we don't want to be caught flat-footed on that."

While anticipating a new rise, Dr Fauci said that at this time, he does not expect a surge.

Several US states will close mass coronavirus testing sites in the coming weeks, as many did before the recent Omicron surge, despite concerns among some public health experts that the US may be unprepared for a new wave.

The closures come only a few months after Americans were forced to wait hours in long queues for free tests or to pay for testing.

New Hampshire closed all state-run sites last Tuesday. Massachusetts will have closed a majority by April 1. South Carolina has been gradually closing them this month, while Utah has been doing so since February.

NYTIMES