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The risk of death or serious illness from COVID-19 in adolescents and children is extremely low, according to three new studies from the UK.
The studies provide the most detailed analysis to date on the impact of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus on children and confirm previous findings for those aged 18 and under: that they are at very low risk. become seriously ill or die from the disease. .
Researchers from the University of Liverpool, University College of London, University of York and the University of Bristol have published their preprinted studies online, which are currently being peer reviewed, the July 8. Two of the studies analyzed the risks of serious illness and death from COVID-19, while one focused only on deaths.
Preliminary results will be submitted to the World Health Organization and the UK Joint Committee on Immunization and Immunization, which is still considering expanding the use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to children aged 12 to 17 in the country. The four COVID-19 vaccines authorized in the UK are only intended for people 18 years of age and older.
Russel Viner, lead author of two of the studies and professor of adolescent health at the Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health at University College London, said the findings “will inform protection guidelines for young people as well as decisions about vaccination of adolescents and children, not just in the UK, but abroad, ”according to a statement.
Although the studies did not include information specific to the effects of the Delta variant, there is currently no evidence that it causes more serious illness or death in children.
“Although this data covers until February 2021, that has not changed recently with the Delta variant,” said Dr Elizabeth Whittaker, clinical lecturer in pediatric infectious diseases and immunology at Imperial College London . “We hope this data will be reassuring for children and youth and their families. “
Rare deaths, mainly in children with underlying health problems
In the study which focused on deaths only, researchers analyzed England’s national databases, including the Mandatory National Child Mortality Database, to identify all children under the age of 18. died of COVID-19 between March 2020 and February 2021.
In the first year of the pandemic in England, of 3,105 children who died from all causes, 61 were children who tested positive for the CCP virus.
But after “differentiating between those who died from SARS-CoV-2 infection and those who died from another cause but tested positive coincidentally,” the researchers determined that only 25 of 61 children had died from COVID-19 in a population of more than 12 million children.
This equates to a death rate of about two in a million.
SARS-CoV-2 is the scientific name for the CCP virus that causes COVID-19 disease.
Of the 25 children who died with COVID-19, 15 had a life-limiting illness, 16 had multiple co-morbidities, and 19 had an underlying chronic health condition.
The researchers found that the ‘most at-risk co-morbidity group [for death] were those with a complex neurohandicap, which included 52 [percent] of all deaths ”in children who died from COVID-19.
“These young people most at risk are those who are also at higher risk of contracting a winter virus or other disease, that is, young people with multiple health conditions and complex disabilities,” said Viner. “However, COVID-19 increases the risks for people in these groups to a greater degree than for illnesses such as the flu (seasonal flu). “
Only six (24%) of 25 deaths from COVID-19 appeared to have no underlying health issues.
In addition, the researchers found no deaths in children with an isolated diagnosis of a respiratory disease such as asthma, type 1 diabetes, Down syndrome or epilepsy.
However, the researchers noted that “during the same period studied, there were 124 suicide deaths and 268 trauma deaths, stressing that COVID-19 is rarely fatal” in children and adolescents.
Underlying health problems increase the risk of serious illness
Another study that looked at “81 existing studies assessing risk factors for serious illness and death from COVID-19 in young people” found that pre-existing health conditions and severe disabilities increased the risk of serious illness.
Children who had heart or neurological disease, more than one disease, or who were obese were at greater risk. However, the absolute risks were still low, even compared to children without comorbidity.
“It’s important to remember that the risks are very low for all children and youth,” said Lorna Frasier, professor of epidemiology at the University of York and lead author of the study. “Even when we found higher risks for some groups with serious medical conditions, those risks were still very low compared to the risks seen in adults.”
“Our meta-analysis found similar risk factors to other studies, although we also found that obesity increased the risk of severe illness from COVID-19, something that we have known for some time in adults but which only becomes evident now as a significant risk. in children and youth too, ”said pediatric surgeon Dr Rachel Harwood, lead author of the study.
Hospitalizations remain low overall
In a third study (pdf) that looked at risk factors for death and admission to intensive care, researchers concluded that children and adolescents were “at very low risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19 or PIMS-TS [pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome-temporarily associated with SARS-CoV-2]. “
Researchers found that of the 5,830 children admitted to hospital with COVID-19, 251 were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) in England in the first year of the pandemic, up to end of February 2021. This equates to children “having a one in about 50,000 chance of being admitted to intensive care with COVID-19 during this time.”
During the same period, more than 367,000 children were admitted to hospital for other causes.
Of the 251 people admitted to the ICU, 91 percent (n = 229) had an underlying health problem or comorbidity. Children most at risk were children with multiple medical conditions and neurological disorders.
“This model is described in previous work and is consistent with our meta-analysis of published data, where each increase in the number of pre-existing conditions was associated with an increased likelihood of PICU [pediatric intensive care unit] admission and death for COVID-19, ”the authors wrote.
The authors also found that 309 children were admitted to intensive care with PIMS-TS, a rare inflammatory disease in children caused by COVID-19, “which equates to an absolute risk of one in 39,000.”
“It is reassuring that these results reflect our clinical experience in the hospital – we are seeing very few critically ill children,” Whittaker said.
CDC Still Recommends Masks For Unvaccinated Students
A day after the studies were published online, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released updated guidelines on how to prevent COVID-19 in K-12 schools, claiming that cloth masks and the three-foot physical distance were still recommended for students who are not fully immunized when indoors.
Other preventative measures recommended by the CDC include promoting vaccines among students, screening tests to identify infected people, improving ventilation, contact tracing and good hand hygiene.
“Immunization is currently the primary public health prevention strategy to end the COVID-19 pandemic,” the CDC said, adding that promoting “immunization can help schools safely resume in-person learning as well as extracurricular activities and sports “.
COVID-19 vaccines have been recommended for adolescents aged 12 to 15 in the United States since May.
In June, the CDC continued its recommendation for emergency use of approved COVID-19 messenger RNA vaccines for anyone 12 years of age and older despite higher-than-normal reports of heart inflammation in young men following an mRNA vaccine, citing that the vaccine’s benefits outweigh the risk of heart inflammation.
The one-size-fits-all approach and rush to immunize healthy children and adolescents without adequate data on safety and efficacy has concerned some physicians and parents, as the risk of serious illness or death is extremely low for this group. of age. In addition, young children have not been reported as super-propagators of the CCP virus.
Viner in an opinion piece published in The Guardian said public health officials should wait until there is enough safety data before vaccinating healthy adolescents.
“I think it’s reasonable to now propose to vaccinate adolescents with chronic diseases and medical conditions that make them more vulnerable. As for healthy adolescents, let’s first use our vaccine stocks to increase adult immunization levels as much as possible, provide reminders for the elderly, and keep our promises to deliver vaccines to the poorest countries. Then we should vaccinate healthy adolescents once we have adequate safety data, but for that we have to wait, ”he wrote.
The Epoch Times has contacted the CDC to find out if its recommendations also apply to children who have recovered from COVID-19 and have natural immunity.
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