Record numbers of toddlers hospitalized with colds as immunity was weakened by restrictions
More children and young people are being hospitalized with colds and respiratory problems than ever after the Covid pandemic, official data suggests.
Experts have repeatedly warned of lockdowns and measures used to contain Covid-like face masks also suppressed the spread of germs crucial to building strong immune systems in children.
A retrospective report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today showed that cold virus levels reached their all-time high among young people under the age of 18 in August 2021.
The CDC samples random children’s hospitals in the US and makes national estimates to measure the prevalence of viruses.
There were nearly 700 children hospitalized with a respiratory virus in the seven wards surveyed last August, just over half of whom tested positive for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) – which is normally benign .
This was the highest level ever recorded in the summer, following a year and a half of brutal pandemic restrictions that forced many to stay indoors.
The all-time record is in December, when 60 percent of children in wards with respiratory diseases were infected with RSV.
While the report only looked at August 2021, separate data from the CDC indicates that hospital visits for children under the age of four with respiratory problems may be getting worse.
In the week ending September 18 this year, 4.7 percent of all toddler emergency room visits in the US were for breathing difficulties — a record high.
dr. Scott Roberts, medical director at Yale University, told DailyMail.com today that lockdowns deprived children of the chance to build immunity against common bugs.
The above shows the proportion of emergency room visits in children aged 5 to 14 that were due to reactive respiratory disease/asthma. This shows that there is also an upturn, but that it is comparable to periods before the pandemic
The above chart shows the number of children under the age of 18 admitted to seven US hospitals for respiratory illness, which were considered nationally representative (gray bars). Each was then tested for respiratory viruses, with their results shown by the lines. Data showed that respiratory syncytial virus (RSV, black line) infections reached their all-time high in the summer of last August (red circle). The red arrows show the other Augusts in the chart
The chart above shows the proportion of emergency room visits in children aged 0-4 years that were due to reactive respiratory disease/asthma – a term for cases where children have a severe cough. It shows that in 2021 the share reached the highest level since the measurements started
The record increase was revealed today in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), the country’s leading infectious disease and healthcare publication.
Scientists have checked seven hospitals in the US for the number of children admitted for respiratory diseases. These hospitals were in seven states, including Washington, Texas, New York and Ohio.
All participants had at least one symptom of respiratory disease, including cough, earache, runny nose, sore throat and shortness of breath.
Each was then tested to determine what disease they were infected with. This does not necessarily mean that they were hospitalized because of this illness.
The report does not include data for the remainder of 2021 or this year.
Data showed that of the nearly 700 hospitalized with respiratory illness in August 2021, nearly 55 percent tested positive for RSV.
Of the 450 transferred to the emergency room, nearly 35 percent had RSV.
This level was also comparable to the winter months, when more than 30 percent of patients regularly have the virus.
But in the summer – when the data is from – this was usually at a much lower level.
Many common respiratory viruses were virtually absent during the Covid pandemic, as restrictions — such as face masks and staying at home — stopped their spread.
The ever-present COVID-19 also interfered with the annual virus’s ability to spread, as it was unlikely that a person already infected with it would also get the flu.
But when society returned to normal, they started to spread again and quickly.
The knock-on effect appears to be of concern in hospital admissions with common respiratory illnesses.
dr. Roberts told DailyMail.com that lockdowns resulted in up to two years in which children may not have been exposed to common respiratory viruses.
“This has two consequences,” he said.
First, the gap gives time for the viruses to mutate even further and cause more serious disease.
“And second, whatever immunity has built up against those viruses,” it will have waned, making the immune response much less potent now.
dr. Roberts also told DailyMail.com how his son, who has just turned two, now repeatedly came home with infections after starting daycare.
“We were pretty sheltered during the pandemic,” he said.
“But now my son has just started daycare and is constantly getting infections.”
There are also now some concerns about children’s hospitals quickly filling up with children with respiratory diseases in September, much earlier than usual.
It worries experts about the winter, when these viruses normally spread, as it suggests there could be another wave of hospitalizations.
A separate study also published today in the MMWR also points to this risk.
After searching national databases, it was found that among the children studied, hospital admissions reached the highest level for respiratory diseases in mid-September compared to the previous four years for 0-4 year olds.
The previous record was set in the penultimate week of September 2019, when 4.3 percent of babies and toddlers in the emergency room tested positive for respiratory disease.
However, no record-breaking increases were recorded among 5 to 17-year-olds, with admissions for respiratory illness comparable to the two years before the Covid pandemic hit.
The most recent data showed they accounted for about 35 percent of emergency room admissions in September, below the level of the same period in 2018, when they accounted for nearly 40 percent.
In their paper, the scientists suggested that enteroviruses — another common respiratory disease — may be responsible for the increase in young children.
They said: ‘This increase may be partly due to the increased [enterovirus] circulation and especially circulation of EV-D68.
“Continued monitoring is needed to understand when and where future circulation and EV-D68-associated serious diseases may occur, given the potential changes in virus circulation and population immunity associated with COVID-19 mitigation measures.”
Suicide by firearms skyrocketed to its highest rate in more than 30 years in 2021, an alarming trend that has coincided with the global Covid pandemic
No data was provided on which treatments the patients received or how long they stayed in hospital.
Last month, the CDC warned of increasing enterovirus infections. It called on clinicians to look for cases and request testing from the CDC if necessary.
It comes after separate CDC data found today that the number of firearms suicides skyrocketed to its highest rate in more than 30 years in 2021, an alarming trend that has coincided with the global Covid pandemic.
More than 26,000 Americans committed suicide with a gun in 2021 — or 55 percent of all suicides. That is the highest percentage since 1990.
Suicide rates have generally increased in all age groups, including teens, over the past decade. And the suicide rate among teens caused by guns remains high.
About 44 percent of suicide deaths in the age group 14 to 18 years were caused by firearms between 2015 and 2020.
The suicide rate recovered for the first time in two years last year, with about 48,000 Americans committing suicide.
It is feared that it is an early sign of the economically cruel effects of lockdowns and pandemic restrictions.