Number of kids getting virus growing
Nearly 7,200 children have tested positive for COVID-19
As COVID-19 infections rise among adults in Central Florida, the number of children who are diagnosed with the virus is also growing.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, nearly 7,200 children in Florida have tested positive for COVID-19 and two children have died, according to weekly data released by the Florida Department of Health.
That’s up from 3,400 cases in the state’s first report three weeks ago.
The number of infections among children in Central Florida counties has more than doubled since then, with 374 cases in Orange County, 49 in Lake, 89 in Osceola and 85 in Seminole.
But there’s some good news: the illness is typically mild among children, even in those who have been hospitalized, local doctors say. Many children have no symptoms.
“We’ve definitely in the last couple of weeks seen our numbers increase, but thankfully, the kids who have been admit
ted have had relatively mild symptoms and have done very well,” said Dr. Jenna Wheeler, pediatric critical care physician at Arnold Palmer Hospital. “None have been critically ill or required any prolonged hospitalization. Just more of an overnight supportive care.”
She said her emergency room colleagues have also reported more patients who are sent to the ER for COVID-19 testing or symptoms in recent weeks, but most of the children who test positive are well enough to be sent home.
Dr. Michael Keating, chief medical officer at AdventHealth Hospital for Children, mirrored a similar experience.
“We’re seeing more children who had been sent to the emergency room for testing under the possibility that they might have COVID. Fortunately, most of them don’t,” said Keating. “But we have seen more positive tests than we had had historically during the first initial surge of COVID here a few months ago.”
He said it’s unusual for a child with COVID-19 to require extended hospitalization.
Dr. Kenneth Alexander, chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando, said so far only three kids with COVID-19 have been admitted to the hospital.
“All of them have been young children with relatively mild respiratory disease,” he said.
Statewide, of the nearly 7,200 child COVID-19 cases in the state, about 155 have been in hospitalized children. The state does not provide county-specific data for children’s hospitalizations.
Some of the COVID-19 infections are identified during testing of kids who are in the hospital for other reasons.
“In other words, if a child has appendicitis and is going to go to surgery, we would want to test that child,” said Keating. “There might be an occasional child that comes up positive for COVID. But he or she was never being evaluated for COVID in the first place.”
None of the Central Florida children’s hospitals have reported treating Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome, a rare and serious complication resulting from COVID-10 infection. So far 12 children in Florida have been diagnosed with the syndrome, according to the Florida Department of Health.
It’s still not known if there are trends in hospitalizations among children and whether age or underlying conditions play a role.
According to state data, children between the ages of 15 and 17 make up less than one-third of the 155 hospitalizations, while babies under 1 make up 18%, the smallest percentage among all age groups.
“As of now, the ones that I’ve seen personally have been generally otherwise healthy kids that acquired the virus and have needed a little extra help,” said Wheeler of Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children.
Potential signs of COVID-19 in children include fever, rash, breathing problems, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Wheeler advised parents to contact their pediatrician if they’re concerned.
“I think the bottom line is if your child does have COVID not to panic,” said Wheeler. “But COVID is a virus that should be taken very seriously. We should all be doing good handwashing, we should be wearing masks to decrease the spread.”
It’s still unknown how easily children can transmit the virus compared with adults. But that doesn’t make infection control any easier at the children’s hospitals.
For Alexander at Nemours Children’s Hospital in Lake Nona, the biggest concern are the adults — employees and visitors.
“The kids are fine. I’m worried about the hospital employees. I want to maintain a standing army of health-care providers,” said Alexander while giving a tour of Nemours to show the changes the hospital has made to create a safe environment for patients and staff.
“My greatest worry — what leaves me awake at night — is how do I protect everybody that’s caring for all those kids. And what we’ve learned there is that their greatest risk is outside the hospital. … We had a town hall [on Thursday] and I just came out and said, ‘Look guys, what you do at home matters,’” Alexander said.
Like other children’s hospitals here, all Nemours staff have to wear masks. The hospital has deployed “secret shoppers” who walk around to make sure everyone is complying with the mandate.
Employees have a separate entrance where they’re screened.
With certain exceptions, the number of visitors is limited to one parent, who is screened upon entering the hospital and is given a mask if not wearing one.
Children older than 2 are also required to wear a mask unless a medical condition prevents them.
The hospital has removed registration areas from its floors and created a
central station in its main lobby to prevent large gatherings in small spaces.
Its emergency room now has a makeshift area for suspected COVID-19 cases, which is separate from the general population. Patients who may have symptoms of the infection are taken to the area for further assessment and if needed, are taken to a negative pressure room.
And Alexander, who’s a known face around the hospital these days, even with his face mask, has tried to reinforce social distancing in employee areas.
“When they build these hospitals, they make these beautiful patient rooms and then cram all the healthcare providers into these little rooms with computers, next to each other,” said Alexander. “My goal is just to say, ‘Look, we have to reduce the risk of employee to employee, patient to employee and employee to patient transmission. It’s all got to be zero.”