What Experts Want Parents To Know About COVID Hospitalizations In Kids
Huff PostaquaArts studio via Getty Images A record number of children have been hospitalized with COVID-19 amid the ongoing omicron surge. That means they’re receiving treatments that are only available in the hospital, explained Dr. Danielle Zerr, an infectious disease specialist with Seattle Children’s in Washington, or that they’re in need of close monitoring. Those are the types of treatments that children often get if they’re hospitalized for other respiratory viruses, like RSV or severe croup. “I’m seeing more kids under 5 who are presenting with symptoms and need to be admitted than I’ve seen in previous waves here in New York,” said Margaret Aldrich, director of pediatric infection control at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in New York City. These included obesity, asthma, neurologic disease, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune and immunosuppressive conditions, chronic lung disease, metabolic disease, gastrointestinal disease and hypertension,” said Carla Garcia Carreño, chief of infectious disease at Children’s Medical Center Plano.