Reassuring findings from the UK and South Africa suggest that omicron isn't more severe in kids. Record numbers of hospitalisations probably reflect sheer number of cases and lack of vaccination
More school-aged children are being infected by omicron, but findings suggest it causes less severe disease than previous variants, with babies especially likely to be admitted. While this has led to claims that omicron is more likely to cause severe illness in children, in fact almost all the evidence suggests that, compared with earlier variants, omicron causes less severe illness in infected children.
It could also be partly due to omicron being more likely to cause symptoms in children than other variants, he says. But most children admitted to hospital aren’t as ill as those admitted during previous waves. “These are not particularly sick children,” says Semple., especially pregnant people. Vaccinated parents are less likely to infect their children, while protective antibodies can be passed to babies via the placenta before birth and via breast milk afterwards.
The under-18s admitted to hospital were less like to require oxygen, to require intensive care or to be put on ventilation. For instance, just 11 per cent of children under 1 required oxygen compared with around 20 per cent in previous waves. And most children are now staying in hospital for less than two days on average, compared with a week during the first wave.
The reason for the higher proportion of babies being admitted isn’t clear. “The very high prevalence may be proportionately pushing more babies into hospital because we are highly protective of young babies,” says Viner. “It also could be omicron behaving more like other winter viruses.”
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