Among youngest kids, hospitalization rates five times higher during omicron vs. delta
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COVID-19 hospitalization rates among children aged 0 to 4 years in the U.S. were around five times higher during the peak of the omicron wave compared with the peak of the delta wave, researchers reported in MMWR.
The researchers assessed data from the CDC’s COVID-NET surveillance network on laboratory-confirmed COVID-19-associated hospitalizations among children and adolescents from 99 counties in 14 states. They identified the youngest age group — aged 0 to 4 years — as particularly vulnerable since they do not have access to a vaccine yet.
They established the delta wave as occurring from July 1 to Dec. 18, 2021, with pediatric hospitalizations from COVID-19 peaking during the week ending Sept. 11 at 1.8 per 100,000 children aged 0 to 17 years.
The omicron wave began on Dec. 19 and continued to Jan. 22, with hospitalizations peaking in the week ending Jan. 8 at 7.1 per 100,000 kids — almost four times the rate as the delta peak.
The biggest increase occurred in the youngest age group, with children aged 0 to 4 years being hospitalized at a rate of 15.6 per 100,000 during the peak of the omicron wave compared with 2.9 per 100,000 during the peak of delta (RR = 5.4; 95% CI, 4.0-7.2).
Additionally, the hospitalization rate among unvaccinated adolescents aged 12 to 17 years was 23.5 per 100,000 in December — a little more than six times higher than the rate among fully vaccinated adolescents, the researchers reported.
Numerous states have announced that they will lift mask mandates in K-12 schools — a move opposed by the AAP — and the FDA recently postponed its review of Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine for children aged younger than 5 years at the companies’ request while more data are compiled.
“Vaccination of eligible persons, in addition to other prevention strategies such as masking, are critical to reducing the incidence of severe COVID-19 among children and adolescents,” the authors of the MMWR report wrote. “All persons who are eligible for vaccination should receive and stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines to reduce the risk for severe disease for themselves and others with whom they come into contact, including children who are currently too young to be vaccinated.”