Omicron 'less severe' than Delta for children ages 4 and younger, study suggests
Date:
April 1, 2022
Source:
Case Western Reserve University
Summary:
New research suggests that the children younger than age 5 who
are infected with the COVID-19 Omicron variant have less risk of
severe health outcomes than those infected with the Delta variant.
FULL STORY ==========================================================================
New research from the Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of
Medicine suggests that the children younger than age 5 who are infected
with the COVID- 19 Omicron variant have less risk of severe health
outcomes than those infected with the Delta variant.
==========================================================================
The study, published Friday in JAMA Pediatrics,is the first large-scale research effort to compare the health outcomes of coronavirus infection
from Omicron to Delta in children 4 and younger -- the age group not
yet able to be vaccinated.
The findings show that the Omicron variant is 6-8 times more infectious
than the Delta variant. The severe clinical outcomes ranged from a 16%
lower risk for emergency room visits to 85% less risk for mechanical ventilation. And about 1.8% of children infected with Omicron were hospitalized, compared to 3.3% with Delta.
The Case Western Reserve-led team analyzed the electronic health records
of more than 651,640 children in the United States who had medical
encounter with healthcare organizations between 9/2021-1/2022-including
more than 22,772 children infected with Omicron in late December and
late January -- to more than 66,000 children infected when Delta was
prevalent in the fall. The study also compared the records of more than
10,000 children immediately before the detection of Omicron in the U.S.,
but when Delta was still predominant.
Children younger than 5 are not yet eligible for COVID-19 vaccines and
have a low rate of previous SARS-CoV-2 infections, which also limits
their pre- existing immunity.
The team examined clinical health outcomes for pediatric patients during
a 14- day window following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Among the factors they reviewed were: emergency room visits, hospitalizations, ICU admissions
and mechanical ventilation use.
Further demographic data analysis found that children infected with
Omicron were on average younger-1.5 years of age versus 1.7 years-and
had fewer comorbidities.
"The major conclusion to our research was that many more children were
infected with Omicron when compared to Delta, but the children who
are infected are not impacted as severely as were children infected
with the Delta variant," said Pamela Davis, the Arline H. and Curtis
F. Garvin Research Professor at the Case Western Reserve School of
Medicine. "However, because there are so many more children infected,
our hospitals were affected over the winter months by an influx of
young children." "We saw the number of hospitalizations within this age
group skyrocket in January of this year because the infection rate of
Omicron is about 10 to 15 times compared to that of the Delta variant,"
said Rong Xu, professor of biomedical infomatics and director of the
Center for AI in Drug Discovery at the School of Medicine. "Omicron is
less severe than Delta, however, the reduction of the severity range in clinical outcomes is only 16 to 85%.
Furthermore, since so many un-vaccinated children were infected, the
long-term effects of COVID-19 infections on the brain, heart, immune
systems and other organs of children remains unknown and worrisome. "
The CDC recommends those age 5 and older receive a COVID-19 vaccine, and
fully vaccinated people 12 and older receive a booster shot. According
to updated guidance by the CDC, Americans no longer need to mask indoors
in counties with low or medium "Covid-19 Community Level."
========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Case_Western_Reserve_University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Lindsey Wang, Nathan A. Berger, David C. Kaelber, Pamela B. Davis,
Nora
D. Volkow, Rong Xu. Incidence Rates and Clinical Outcomes of
SARS-CoV- 2 Infection With the Omicron and Delta Variants in
Children Younger Than 5 Years in the US. JAMA Pediatrics, 2022;
DOI: 10.1001/ jamapediatrics.2022.0945 ==========================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220401182946.htm
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