COVID-19 a leading cause of death among American youths

COVID-19 has become a leading cause of death among children and teens in the United States, according to study findings published in JAMA Network Open.

According to the researchers, death among American children and teens from all causes was rare in 2019, occurring at a rate of 49.4 per 100,000. Among those aged 0 to 19 years, 821 deaths from COVID-19 were reported from August 2021 through July 2022 — a rate of 1 per 100,000 population.

“The mortality burden of COVID-19 is best understood by comparing it with other significant causes of [children and young people] mortality from a recent pre-COVID-19 period,” they wrote.

The researchers analyzed CDC data on 113 causes of death by age group to identify where COVID-19 ranked relative to other causes among youths aged 0 to 19 years.

According to the findings, from Aug. 1, 2021, to July 31, 2022, COVID-19 ranked eighth among all causes, fifth among disease-related causes — which excludes unintentional injuries, assault and suicide — and first among deaths caused by infectious or respiratory diseases when compared with 2019. It constituted 2% of all deaths among people aged 0 to 19 years.

COVID-19 accounted for 3.8% of deaths among children aged 5 to 9, 3.5% among those aged 10 to 14, and 3.7% among those aged 15 to 19.

“Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, comparisons of COVID-19 disease severity between age groups were a vital tool for appropriately allocating limited resources and prioritizing vaccination campaigns,” the authors wrote. “In the likely future context of sustained SARS-CoV-2 circulation, appropriate pharmaceutical and nonpharmaceutical interventions (eg, vaccines, ventilation, air cleaning) will continue to play an important role in limiting transmission of the virus and mitigating severe disease in [children and young people].”