US: Amid a rise in COVID-19 cases caused by Omicron variant, child hospitalisation rates hit record highs

According to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a sharp increase in the number of children being hospitalised in the United States due to coronavirus (COVID-19) has been recorded amid a rise in cases globally. 

The hospitalisation rate in the kids, who are not even eligible for the vaccination, had increased with an average of 4.3 children under 5 per 100,000 hospitalised with an infection as of the week ending January 1, up from 2.6 children the previous week, as per the report. 

The CDC report mentioned that rates are higher again in these pediatric populations than seen previously but they are also higher in many of our other populations, even vaccinated ones. 

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"For our youngest children, those who are not yet eligible for vaccination, it's critically important that we surround them with people who are vaccinated to provide them protection," CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky said on Friday. 

She also said, "There's a lot of pediatric admissions associated with many things and other respiratory viruses. We're seeing more than that than we generally do, and that some of these are coming in and they're completely asymptomatic, and we didn't expect to find them."

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As mentioned, the pediatric infection rate under the Omicron variant is unprecedented - and while the vast majority of cases are mild, the sheer number of cases means hospitalisations are also at an all-time high.