Yep... the Covid-denier keep claiming it doesn't hurt children... Mom of 9-year-old nearly details horrific ‘COVID-eye’: ‘It was going to explode’ https://nypost.com/2022/01/05/boy-nearly-goes-blind-from-covid-eye-it-was-going-to-explode/ He had the corona-iris. A 9-year-old UK boy named Zac Morey shocked his mother when he contracted “COVID-eye,” an alleged side effect of the coronavirus. “His eye looked like it was going to explode,” the boy’s mom, Angela, told SWNS of the unfortunate COVID complication. (More at above url)
Yep... the Covid-deniers keep claiming it doesn't hurt children. Yet the reality is quite different... Hospitalizations skyrocket in kids too young for COVID shots https://apnews.com/article/coronavi...lle-walensky-0f9d46ab55b0f2f6951ffddd6ca8a511 Hospitalizations of U.S. children under 5 with COVID-19 soared in recent weeks to their highest level since the pandemic began, according to government data released Friday on the only age group not yet eligible for the vaccine. The worrisome trend in children too young to be vaccinated underscores the need for older kids and adults to get their shots to protect those around them, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since mid-December, as the highly contagious omicron variant has spread furiously around the country, the hospitalization rate in these youngest children has surged to more than 4 in 100,000 youngsters, up from 2.5 per 100,000. That compares with a current rate of about 1 per 100,000 for children ages 5 to 17, according to CDC data. In a statement, Walensky said that while children still have the lowest rate of hospitalization of any age group, “pediatric hospitalizations are at their highest rate compared to any prior point in the pandemic.” At a briefing, she said the numbers include children hospitalized because of COVID-19 and those admitted for other reasons but found to be infected. She noted that just over 50% of children ages 12 to 18 are fully vaccinated and only 16% of those 5 to 11 are fully vaccinated. As of Tuesday, the average number of children and teens admitted to the hospital per day with COVID-19 was 766, double the figure reported just two weeks ago. At a White House briefing this week, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious-disease expert, said many children hospitalized with COVID-19 have other health conditions that make them more susceptible to complications from the virus. That includes obesity, diabetes and lung disease. Fauci and Walensky have emphasized that one of the best ways to protect the youngest children is to vaccinate everyone else. Data suggest booster shots offer the best protection against omicron, and CDC this week recommended them for kids as young as 12. Among older ages already eligible, just 34% have received them. The surge in hospitalizations only heightens the concerns of parents worried about how to keep their infants and toddlers safe. Emily Hojara and Eli Zilke of Sawyer, Michigan, are being extra protective of their daughter Flora, who turns 2 in May. They limit her contact with other children, and no visitors are allowed in the house unless masked, not even grandparents. “It’s been a struggle, and now with this new variant, I feel it’s knocked us back,” Hojara said. She said the new hospitalization data “just reminds you that that anxiety is hovering really close.’’ “It’s scary that she can’t be vaccinated,” Hojara said of her daughter. Dr. Jennifer Kusma, a pediatrician with Chicago’s Lurie Children’s Hospital, said she has seen increasing numbers of kids hospitalized with omicron, and while most aren’t severely ill, she understands parents’ worries. “As a pediatrician, I really wish we already had that vaccine for these young kids,” Kusma said. But she added that what may seem like a long wait should reassure parents that vaccine testing is not being rushed. Many had hoped the new year might bring a vaccine for young children, but Pfizer announced last month that two doses didn’t offer as much protection as hoped for in youngsters ages 2 to 4. Pfizer’s study has been updated to give everyone under 5 a third dose, and data is expected in early spring.
Let's see what @Tsing Tao's hometown paper has to say Covid and children.... as it outlines information from leading doctors who educate the state's pediatricians We educate Florida’s pediatricians. Here’s how to protect our kids from COVID Here are four things we should do right now for our children. https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/20...es-how-to-protect-our-kids-from-covid-column/ Dr. Glenn Flores, Dr. Daniel Armstrong, Dr. Patricia Emmanuel, Dr. Mark Hudak, Dr. Desmond Schatz As chairs of pediatrics in Florida’s medical schools, we are unified in our fight to protect Florida’s children against COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, deaths and long-term symptoms. Protecting our children against COVID-19 requires alignment and collaboration among Florida’s pediatricians, nurses, health systems, public health experts, parents, schools, child-care centers, communities, media outlets and policymakers. This requires all of us to be on the same page about the facts: COVID-19 is a crisis for our children. About 8.4 million US children — over 1 in 10 — have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic onset. More children are testing positive for COVID-19 now than ever before, and the numbers are skyrocketing. COVID-19 is disrupting how children learn and families function. COVID-19 is not a benign infection in children. Hospitalizations of children with COVID-19 soared by 52 percent over the last month to reach an all-time peak, and 823 U.S. children have died of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. Another 55 children have died of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), a late result of COVID-19 infection, and there is emerging evidence that some children, even those with mild symptoms, experience “long-haul” COVID with long-lasting breathing, heart, brain and cognitive problems, including diabetes risk. Vaccines protect children against serious COVID-19 infection. The science is clear: Vaccines are safe and effective. Nevertheless, two months after FDA approved COVID-19 vaccinations for 5- to 11-year-olds, only 14 percent have received the initial two immunizations, and only 53 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds are fully vaccinated. We propose several actions steps to protect Florida’s children against COVID-19. We must leverage the power of accurate, real-time data to combat pediatric COVID-19. We urgently need a Florida state online dashboard that provides daily updated pediatric data on numbers of pediatric COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, intensive-care-unit admissions, MIS-C cases and deaths. This dashboard should also provide data by county to identify hot spots and outbreaks; vaccination rates; and infection rates among children who are unvaccinated, received at least one vaccine dose, and received all recommended doses. It should also report data by age groups, including those under 5 years old, because they are not yet eligible for COVID-19 vaccines. We urgently need to improve how we communicate with parents about the importance of COVID-19 vaccines, counteract misinformation, and increase vaccination rates. Multiple studies document vaccination decreases COVID-19 infections, severe disease, hospitalizations, and deaths. Recent surveys, however, indicate 47 percent of parents of 12- to 17-year-olds and 68 percent of parents of 5- to 11-year-olds say they will definitely not get their child vaccinated, will only do so if required by schools, or want to wait and see how vaccinations are working for other children. We must work to increase booster vaccines in children because the current Omicron surge threatens further disruption of our schools. And we must be ready in the spring to immunize children under 5 years old if data demonstrate vaccine effectiveness and safety, particularly since the number of such young children hospitalized over the past month has reached a pandemic all-time high. We need better outreach to our most vulnerable populations. Compared with their white counterparts, Black, Latino, and Asian children have lower rates of COVID-19 testing but are more likely to be infected; Black and Latino children and those with chronic illnesses or developmental disabilities are more likely to be hospitalized and develop MIS-C; and Latino, Black and Native American children have higher death rates. Better outreach can be achieved by community engagement and pediatric mobile clinics administering vaccines in underserved neighborhoods. We must ensure that any child who needs COVID-19 testing can obtain it expeditiously. Our greatest improvements in child health — from vaccines that protect against many childhood infections to survival of infants born four months early — were achieved because we followed the science. Sowe must use science to protect our children in schools and day care.Besides vaccination, the most effective measures for reducing COVID-19 infection risk are properly using medical masks, frequent hand washing, and discouraging face touching. These measures should be consistently implemented in Florida’s schools and daycare, along with evidence-based protocols for testing, isolation, and quarantining, and urging vaccination of adults caring for children in our schools and daycare. As President John F. Kennedy noted, “Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.” Let’s work together now to protect Florida’s children against COVID-19. Dr. Glenn Flores is chair of Pediatrics and senior associate dean of Child Health at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Daniel Armstrong is executive vice chair of Pediatrics and director of the Mailman Center for Child Development at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Patricia Emmanuel is chair of Pediatrics at the University of South Florida College of Medicine. Dr. Mark Hudak is chair of Pediatrics at the University of Florida College of Medicine — Jacksonville. Dr. Desmond Schatz is interim chair of Pediatrics at the University of Florida College of Medicine.
Yep... all we hear from Covid-deniers who regular spout nonsense they find on Twitter and Blogs is "where are the dead children - kids with long Covid or serious illness are not important". Their idiotic yammering and anti-vax rants are getting old. Of course -- many of the Tweets they re-post -- including the one referenced here are removed for being complete Covid misinformation -- but they continue to peddle this crap. From Canada... 3 Percent of Youth Testing Positive for COVID-19 in Emergency Departments Have Severe Outcomes https://consumer.healthday.com/3-of...er-experience-severe-outcomes-2656322634.html
Let's look at the factor that nearly all teens in ICU have in common. Parents who fail to vaccinate their children should be held responsible for child neglect. Nearly all teens treated in intensive-care units for COVID-19 have been unvaccinated: study ‘Nearly all hospitalizations and deaths in this population could have been prevented by vaccination,’ said Kathryn Edwards, a pediatrics professor at Vanderbilt University involved in the study https://www.marketwatch.com/story/n...d-19-have-been-unvaccinated-study-11642209897
Child hospitalizations reach record high amid omicron surge: WSJ https://thehill.com/policy/healthca...ions-reach-record-high-amid-omicron-surge-wsj
Child hospitalizations reach record high amid omicron surge: WSJ The newspaper reported that doctors think that the rise in child hospitalization is not related to a more severe variant but likely the fact that it’s highly infectious. Still, it is not clear whether certain ages’ lack of accessibility for the vaccine plays a role. It is also not clear how much of a child’s hospitalization can be attributed to COVID-19 or what the underlying cause may be, the Journal noted. Doctors also are still determining how the omicron variant is impacting children.