Record number of children hospitalized

The Omicron wave is hitting young children hard, more and more of them being hospitalized due to COVID-19. A record number that worries pediatricians.

Lila Dussault
Press

On Christmas day, 11 children under 10 patients with COVID-19 have been admitted to hospital, the highest number since March 2020 in Quebec, according to the most recent data from the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec. On December 26, 9 children of this age group were also hospitalized, then 6 on December 27 and 28 respectively.

“The children are not lucky, because the wave arrived before they were all vaccinated,” laments Dr.^r Christos Karatzios, pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Montreal Children’s Hospital.

It is not certain that the Omicron variant is more dangerous for children, indicate several experts consulted by Press. On the other hand, the exponential spread of the virus is helping to increase the number of children in need of hospital care.

However, this number is not higher than for other respiratory diseases, nuance the D^D Valérie Lamarre, pediatric infectious disease specialist at CHU Sainte-Justine. “Yes, we have a lot of patients hospitalized with COVID-19, but if we look at this fall, we had more than that hospitalized with the respiratory syncytial virus [maladie des poumons qui touche les jeunes enfants]. ”

About fifteen children declared positive for COVID-19 were hospitalized at CHU Sainte-Justine on Wednesday, according to D^D Lamarre. They were in a separate unit, in well-ventilated single rooms, and they could be accompanied by their parents.

“Notable difference with Omicron”

“There is a notable difference with Omicron”, observes for its part the D^D Julie St-Pierre, pediatrician at the McGill University Health Center and professor of pediatrics at McGill University.

“It’s going to bring a swelling and inflamed reaction to the system that reaches the lungs.” That was hardly present, even almost nonexistent, in the other waves. ”

Several alarming symptoms can indicate toddlers needing medical attention, says D^D St Pierre. Very young people who no longer want to eat or drink and who have not urinated for a few hours, for example. Or a persistent fever (babies under 2 months should always go to the hospital if they have a fever), excessive vomiting or diarrhea, or retraction of the muscles between the ribs. In addition, a parent should consult for a baby who is making extra efforts with his nostrils to breathe or whose mouth area becomes bluish, or who has difficulty waking up and becomes irritable.

Recall that on December 17, an infant succumbed to COVID-19 at CHU Sainte-Justine, becoming the first child under 10 to die of the virus in Quebec.

Vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate

Children under 5 do not have access to vaccination, but experts urge the population to vaccinate older people, as well as pregnant women.

“Children are less protected than other age groups because they were not eligible for vaccination,” recalls Dr.^r Olivier Drouin, pediatrician at CHU Sainte-Justine and professor of pediatrics at the University of Montreal.

In this sense, the D^D Lamarre also encourages new parents to be careful. “When you have a small newborn baby, this is not the time to go and present it for the visit. We keep it at home very quiet, as we should do for babies born in winter. These little babies need to be protected from respiratory infections, including COVID-19. ”

Another worrying factor is multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, a postviral condition that includes diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal pain after children have had COVID-19. “When there is an increase in the number of cases in children, it leads, two to six weeks later, to an increase in the number of cases of this syndrome,” explains Dr.^r Drouin. So, we also have a little concern about what that will mean, in a few weeks, for the children. ”