Pediatric hospitalizations rise as children prepare to return to school

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Florida – Doctors in South Florida report an increase in pediatric cases as students prepare to return to school.

At Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Broward County, pediatricians treated just over 20 children with COVID in June and more than 240 children with COVID in July. In the first 10 days of August alone, they treated 160 children with COVID. There were five children in the intensive care unit on Tuesday.

Pablo Marcelo Laufer, a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases, said there was also an increase in COVID cases at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami-Dade County. On Tuesday, pediatricians were treating 25 COVID patients, including 18 who were admitted regularly and seven who remained in intensive care.

“None of the patients admitted to the hospital, over the age of 12, are vaccinated,” Laufer said, adding that he was concerned about “the combination of children going to daycares, camps and entering soon to school “.

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Laufer said many pediatric patients aged 12 and older have underlying health issues such as diabetes and obesity. Dr Joshua Lenchus, chief medical officer at Broward Health, said the situation was changing rapidly.

“Last year we didn’t see this tremendous explosion of children,” Lenchus said.

Jackson Memorial Hospital chief medical officer Dr Hany Atallah said the Delta variant, the dominant mutation of the coronavirus in the United States, was to blame. He said doctors are seeing higher viral loads and greater transmissibility. More and more patients who do not have the protection of a vaccine have more severe symptoms.

“It’s a daily challenge,” Atallah said.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, or AAP, and the Children’s Hospital Association, or CHA, have also reported a “substantial” increase in pediatric cases of COVID.

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The Food and Drug Administration has not approved vaccines for children under the age of 12. Dr Lee Savio Beers sent a letter on August 5 to the FDA stating that since the start of the pandemic, children made up 14.3% of the total cumulative cases, and for the week ending July 29, children made up 19% of weekly reported COVID-19 cases. .

“The higher proportion of cases in this population means this age group could be contributing to the continued spread of COVID-19,” the AAP president wrote of the nationwide spread. “Sadly, more than 350 children have died from COVID. “

Children continue to have a lower hospital admission rate than adults.

Total number of pediatric patients hospitalized in Florida: The reporting deadline was August 5 and updated August 10.

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Source: US Department of Health and Human Services data from teletracing.