Covid In Babies And Younger Kids – Covid Updates!

The rising cases of coronavirus and omicron have shattered the world, in terms of human loss, work loss, financial loss, etc, for the past two years.  It has affected people from all age groups, even teenagers and young adults.  Babies and toddlers are no different. 

Covid In Babies And Younger Kids – Covid Updates!

Wearing masks, maintaining social distance, constantly being at home, virtual classrooms are some of the worst effects on youngsters.  Though vaccines and booster doses protect us from the significant complications of these viruses, safety precautions must still be implemented to curb the spread of the disease. 

Omicron has evolved as a significant threat to the world due to its large number of variants.  The symptoms are milder in fully vaccinated individuals across all age groups, and in most cases, they recover at home without the need to end up in hospitals.  As omicron affects younger people, more and more children are being hospitalized in the US, a major cause of concern for parents.  Doctors attribute the increasing number of cases in children to the low number of vaccinations in children and they’re not fully developed immune systems in comparison to adults.  While vaccinations for older kids came as a sigh of relief for the parents, the parents of younger kids, that is kids aged less than 5, are still concerned about their kids’ safety in regard to the highly transmissible omicron variant.  This is in addition to the fact that vaccinations are yet to start for younger children, below the age of 5.

The symptoms of omicron in children include runny nose, sore throat, sneezing, headache, fever, tiredness.  Parents are advised to get their children tested under the guidance of pediatricians if the kids experience these symptoms.  Health officials report that many kids are incidentally getting tested positive for COVID-19 during their routine screening, these include those kids who are getting treatment in hospitals for other health issues or emergencies.

The past few weeks have seen a huge spike in Covid-19 cases in children, especially the younger children, those who have not been vaccinated yet.  The hospitalizations are more in children with other preexisting comorbid conditions.  

Omicron causes much milder illness in children than other variants, and it is very rare that children below the age of 5 get admitted to hospitals with omicron infection.  Most children do not have any symptoms.  Even the younger kids who are hospitalized recover as quickly as 2 days without any need for any major intervention.  

While the highly contagious nature of omicron is a concern for parents who have young kids, Dr. Monica Gandhi, professor of medicine and associate division chief of the Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases, and Global Medicine at UCSF/San Francisco General Hospital in California, says young children are at very low risk for developing severe Covid-19.

Kids often like to do things that their parents do.  So, it remains the major responsibility of the parents to get themselves and the others in the house vaccinated and boosted.  The older kids also should be vaccinated to stop the spread of the disease to the younger children.  Other safety measures include wearing masks and encouraging the younger kids to wear properly fitting masks, especially the N95 and KN95 masks.  Social distancing must be strictly encouraged for kids.  Parents must ensure children are washing their hands frequently.  Parents must avoid sending their kids to crowded places and avoid unnecessary traveling.  Parents must maintain hygiene at home and in their surroundings.  Parents must ensure proper precautionary measures are maintained in schools.  Parents must immediately take their children to hospitals if the kid’s experience shortness of breath, have extreme tiredness or bluish lips, or have confusion.  Parents must be in regular touch with pediatricians regarding the up-to-date treatment modalities.