Delta variant will not increase risk of developing severe childhood Covid: Study
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A recent surge in Covid hospitalisations of children in the US sent waves of worry all around the world. Parents and experts raised alarm over the increased paediatric hospitalisations
When the coronavirus took over the world in December 2019, experts believed it would not severely affect children. A recent study goes on to prove just the same.
A recent surge in Covid hospitalisations of children in the US sent waves of worry all around the world. Parents and experts raised alarm over the increased paediatric hospitalisations.
However, a recent study has brought back a sigh of relief for the worried parents. A paper released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that children are not in grave danger of catching coronavirus and the Delta variant would not cause severe childhood Covid.
The researchers collected and studied data of hospital records around the country between March 01, 2020 and August 14, 2021. This data covered nearly 10 per cent of the US population.
This study also stated that between June 20 and July 31, 2021, children who have not been vaccinated were at 10 times greater risk of getting hospitalised, in comparison to the ones who have been fully vaccinated.
During the time of the data collection, weekly hospitalisations of children upto the age of 17 was at the lowest i.e. 0.3 per 100,000. It then rose to 1.4 per 100,000 till August 14. The hospitalisations hit its peak of 1.5 per 100,000 in the week of January 09, which was when the US was struggling with the Alpha variant.
Scientists studied data of nearly 3,116 hospitals and found that the results of the recent study are consistent with the initial research which concluded that the percentage of children developing severe Covid in childhood remains same as the initial research.
The researchers also observed that the Covid hospitalisations and visits in the emergency rooms were nearly 3.7 times and 3.4 times higher respectively in the states where the vaccination rate has been staggering. Experts conclude that to protect children under the age of 12, it is important for adults to get vaccinated to stop community spread of the deadly coronavirus.