Omicron More Severe For Unvaccinated Children Than Other Strains, Hong Kong Study Finds: Bloomberg

According to a Hong Kong-based study, the omicron variant of COVID-19 has been linked to more hospitalizations, severe complications, and deaths of young children than in previous waves.

The study suggests the highly contagious strain may not be as mild as initially thought. 1,147 children aged 0-11 were hospitalized in Hong Kong due to Covid-19 from February 5 to 28, more than 80% of whom were 0-5 years old. 

The need for intensive care treatment for those hospitalized was higher for omicron, with 21 children (1.83%) admitted to pediatric ICU, compared with only one in all the previous Covid outbreaks in Hong Kong and a 0.79% rate for those with influenza. 

Also Read: FDA Authorizes Fourth Dose Of Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccines For Older People.

Omicron results in more seizures among unvaccinated children and targets the upper airways more than previous variants and influenza, the researchers said in a preprint paper submitted to The Lancet.

Four children died among the 1,147 omicron hospitalization cases, including three who had good past health. Of the cases from January 2020 to November 2021, there were no deaths associated with the virus. 

The fatality rate of omicron in the February stage of the study was 0.35% for hospitalized children, higher than influenza at 0.05%. The figure is likely an overestimate as many children with mild omicron symptoms weren’t taken to the hospital and instead cared for at home, the researchers said.

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