‘Delta more infectious for children younger than age 5’

 

New Delhi: Compared to the Covid-19 Omicron variant, Delta variant has been more infectious for children younger than age 5. According to a new research from the Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine, kids who are infected with the Covid-19 Omicron variant have less risk of severe health outcomes than those infected with the Delta variant.

The study, published Friday in JAMA Pediatrics, is the first large-scale research effort to compare the health outcomes of coronavirus infection from Omicron to Delta in children 4 and younger — the age group not yet able to be vaccinated.

The findings show that the Omicron variant is 6-8 times more infectious than the Delta variant. The severe clinical outcomes ranged from a 16 per cent lower risk for emergency room visits to 85% less risk for mechanical ventilation. And about 1.8 per cent of children infected with Omicron were hospitalised, compared to 3.3 per cent with Delta.

The Case Western Reserve-led team analysed the electronic health records of more than 651,640 children in the United States who had medical encounter with healthcare organisations between 9/2021-1/2022-including more than 22,772 children infected with Omicron in late December and late January — to more than 66,000 children infected when Delta was prevalent in the fall. The study also compared the records of more than 10,000 children immediately before the detection of Omicron in the U.S., but when Delta was still predominant.

Children younger than 5 are not yet eligible for Covid-19 vaccines and have a low rate of previous SARS-CoV-2 infections, which also limits their pre-existing immunity.

The team examined clinical health outcomes for pediatric patients during a 14-day window following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Among the factors they reviewed were: emergency room visits, hospitalizations, ICU admissions and mechanical ventilation use.

Further demographic data analysis found that children infected with Omicron were on average younger-1.5 years of age versus 1.7 years-and had fewer comorbidities.

"The major conclusion to our research was that many more children were infected with Omicron when compared to Delta, but the children who are infected are not impacted as severely as were children infected with the Delta variant," said Pamela Davis, the Arline H. and Curtis F. Garvin Research Professor at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. (Agencies)