Twice as many kids in hospital seriously ill with virus in second Covid wave than first

ALMOST twice as many children and young people ended up in hospital with Covid in the second wave than the first.

This is despite fears that social distancing and schools returning could lead to more infections in the UK. However, vaccines are better than ever.

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A study carried out by the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC) found a staggering increase.

Between January and July 2020, 764 people under the age of 18 were admitted to hospital with the virus. However, from August 2020 through February 2021, 1,280 patients were admitted to hospital.

Experts attributed this to the fact that schools remained open during the second wave and new variants were easier to spread.

The experts wrote that new variants had emerged, including the beta variant (B.1.1.7) which was first discovered in Southeast England in September 2020 and became the dominant variant in the UK by December.

“The alpha variant is a mutation that allows some immune escape in people who were previously infected. This variant also has a higher transmissibility and more severe disease, which can lead to increased hospitalisations and death rates in adults.

The alpha variant was discovered in England and has caused concerns about increased transmission in CYP. They accounted for a greater proportion of cases than the first pandemic.

“This may have been due to the emergence of the variant coinciding with a period when schools were open and subject to increased testing, but the rest of UK society was in “lockdown”.

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“Whether the alpha variant, dominant in the second wave, causes different symptoms or more severe disease in CYP compared to strains circulating in the first wave has not been analysed in detail.

“We test the hypothesis that clinical characteristics of hospitalized children with SARS-CoV-2 in the UK second wave would differ from the first due to the combined impact of the alpha variant, school reopening and relaxation of shielding.”

After younger children finally received the go-ahead to get a single Covid vaccination this week, Government advisors released the study.

Children between 12 and 15 years old can choose whether or not they want to be vaccinated.

JABS FOR KIDS

Office for National Statistics data indicates that most parents would be likely to accept a Covid ­vaccine for their child.

Nearly 86% said they would say yes, either definitely or likely.
In comparison, six per cent of secondary school parents said they would ­definitely not want their child to have a vaccine.

Research from earlier this summer showed that the symptoms of the coronavirus in children are very different to those in adults.

While children can still be infected with the coronavirus and become ill from it, very few cases of severe illness occur.

Experts said parents should look out for the following symptoms in their kids:

1. Fatigue (55 per cent)
2. Headache (53 per cent)
3. Fever (49 per cent)
4. Sore throat (38 per cent)
5. Loss of appetite (35 per cent)