Growing caseload suggests kids not as resistant to COVID-19 as thought

When parents stay connected the obstruction astir getting their children vaccinated against COVID-19, Las Vegas pediatrician Todd Zimmerman informs them that his family, including his 2 teenagers, person each gotten their shots.

“That has helped enactment radical implicit the extremity line,” said Zimmerman, aesculapian manager for the exigency country astatine Sunrise Children’s Hospital.

Conversations specified arsenic this person taken connected captious importance, Zimmerman and different Las Vegas-area pediatricians say, arsenic they spot expanding numbers of cases and hospitalizations involving kids with COVID-19, the sickest of whom are astir ever unvaccinated.

These observations reflector findings successful a study released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that hospitalizations of children with COVID-19 accrued fivefold since precocious June. In kids 12 to 17, the colonisation eligible for vaccination, hospitalization rates for COVID-19 were 10 times higher successful those who were unvaccinated.

“From what I person noticed myself, a batch of the ones with the atrocious pneumonias that thin to beryllium the older adolescents and teenagers, they are not vaccinated,” said Dr. Rita Shah, a pediatric infectious illness specializer who treats patients astatine UMC Children’s Hospital and different country hospitals.

Shah described what it’s similar to spot children who apt wouldn’t beryllium successful the infirmary if they had been vaccinated.

“It’s awful,” said Shah, whose duplicate 15-year-olds are vaccinated.

“We privation our patients to beryllium healthy. We’re present to assistance them,” she said. “We person been doing our best, arsenic you know, for much than a twelvemonth and a half. But it’s hard erstwhile definite families don’t privation to perceive to science, and adjacent erstwhile we effort to reply their questions, they inactive are disquieted astir getting a vaccine.”

Dr. Evelyn Montalvo Stanton, a pediatric pulmonologist and seat of pediatrics astatine the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine astatine UNLV, echoed Shah’s concern.

A couple, some of whom had been hospitalized for COVID-19, did not initially spot a request to get their 16-year-old lad with asthma vaccinated, she said. She yet impressed connected them that their lad could inactive drawback the microorganism adjacent though his parents had already had it, and that helium mightiness go sicker than they had been.

“I had to marque them recognize the seriousness of the disease,” she said.

‘Long COVID’ successful kids

Many kids who get COVID-19 volition acquisition mild symptoms often akin to those of a cold, specified arsenic a runny chemoreceptor and cough. Some acquisition digestive symptoms.

“But COVID tin truly impact immoderate portion of the assemblage — the lungs, the heart,” said Dr. Rebecca Meyers, who treats patients astatine the UNLV Pediatric Clinic. “It tin adjacent impact children’s brains, giving them a assortment of antithetic kinds of neurological symptoms. It tin marque children tired, springiness them headaches. It tin adjacent origin them to person behavioral problems. So there’s tons of imaginable consequences of COVID corruption successful children beyond conscionable what we typically see, which is simply a cold-like oregon flu-like illness.”

Just arsenic adults tin acquisition ongoing symptoms from COVID-19 — alleged “long COVID” — truthful tin children. “Some of those kids tin decidedly person intelligence wellness oregon behavioral consequences,” Meyers said.

Typically children oregon adolescents who are hospitalized for COVID-19 person an underlying information specified arsenic obesity oregon asthma, Shah said. However, a uncommon information called multisystem inflammatory syndrome, oregon MIS-C, tin marque antecedently steadfast children precise sick.

Seventy-nine children successful Clark County person been diagnosed with the syndrome, which causes inflammation successful aggregate organs of immoderate young patients antecedently infected with COVID-19, according to information from the Southern Nevada Health District.

‘People are scared’

Meyers said the biggest uptick successful cases that she’s seeing is successful school-age children.

“This surge for everybody, but peculiarly for children, began truly to prime up successful July, and is continuing to inclination up and up … particularly successful the school-age radical from astir 5 years aged to 17,” she said.

A vaccine has not yet been authorized for those nether property 12, but if parents and others astir them are vaccinated, younger children are little apt to go sick themselves, she said.

Data successful a 2nd study released by the CDC Friday showed that determination were much COVID-19 pediatric exigency section visits and infirmary admissions successful states with little vaccination rates, adding to grounds that wide assemblage vaccination protects those who can’t beryllium vaccinated.

As of Thursday, the wellness territory had reported 237 hospitalizations for COVID-19 and 4 deaths successful those ages 5 to 17 successful Clark County. In children property 4 and younger, determination had been 130 hospitalizations and 1 death.

“This is simply a pandemic. People are scared,” Zimmerman said. Adding to parents’ fearfulness is inaccurate accusation from unreliable net sources.

“But we support pushing the aforesaid message. … In fact, this is the astir studied vaccine ever. And we cognize it’s safe,” helium said. “I travel the CDC precise closely. I americium ever looking astatine the caller studies. If it’s not each day, it’s each week that there’s much studies coming retired that not lone amusement the efficacy of the vaccine, but besides the information of the vaccine.”

Contact Mary Hynes astatine mhynes@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 connected Twitter.