Infants hospitalised with Covid increasing
It is possible that Omicron’s preference for upper airways is affecting young children more. Prof Christina Pagel
A rising proportion of children in hospital with Covid are under the age of one, according to papers released by Britain’s Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies.
More than four in 10 children hospitalised with coronavirus are below the age of one, the new figures show — up from less than one in three with previous variants.
Experts said the latest research, which comes from about half of National Health Service hospitals, also shows that when children are hospitalised the disease is milder than in previous waves, with hospital stays half as long, and involving less use of oxygen and ventilation.
They said data on children aged 12 to 17 show that of 20 cases in intensive care, none were vaccinated.
Calum Semple, professor in child health and outbreak medicine at Liverpool University, an adviser to Sage, said: “There’s been an increased proportion of children being admitted in the last four weeks associated with the onset of Omicron. And this has been particularly driven by children under the age of one.”
Scientists said the figures suggest the children were “not particularly sick”, with some of the rise attributed to extra caution taken when babies suffer a fever.
But they said the nature of Omicron may also be key, as it is thought to be more likely to affect the upper airways, which are smaller in children — increasing the risk of conditions that affect breathing.
Prof Christina Pagel, of UCL, said: “It is possible that Omicron’s preference for upper airways is affecting young children more, even while it reduces burden in adults and older children, and we urgently need to understand more about what might be causing this.”
However, scientists said the data about the severity of the disease was “reassuring”. Figures for the month ending January 12 show length of stay is down to an average of 1.7 days for cases under the age of one, compared with 3.2 days in the last wave, and 6.6 days in the first wave.