Respiratory infections in children more than doubled during Omicron wave

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-04-16 01:00

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The rate of upper airway infections - such as croup or pharyngitis - in kids and teens increased from 1.5 per cent with earlier variants (Mar 2020 to late Dec 2021) to 4.1 per cent during Omicron (late Dec 2021 to Feb 2022), according to new US research. These infections can affect breathing, and children who got them with Omicron were more likely to be younger. Across the study's timespan, more than 1 in 5 kids with COVID-19 and upper airway infection who wound up in hospital developed severe disease - which raises the risk of intensive care and even cardiac arrest.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Pediatrics

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of Colorado, Northwestern University Feinberg, Stony Brook University (US)

Funder: Funding/Support: This study was funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD105939-01S1). Additionally, the analyses described in this publication were conducted with data or tools accessed through the NCATS N3C Data Enclave covid.cd2h.org/enclave) and supported by NCATS U24 TR002306. This research was possible because of the patients whose information is included within the data from participating organizations (covid.cd2h.org/dtas) and the organizations and scientists (covid.cd2h.org/duas) who have contributed to the ongoing development of this community resource (https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocaa196). Role of the Funder/Sponsor: The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development provided support for the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; and preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript. Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Martin reports grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development during the conduct of the study and from Thrasher Research Fund Early Career Award outside the submitted work. Drs Sanchez-Pinto and Moffitt report grants from National Institutes of Health during the conduct of the study. Dr Bennett reports grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development during the conduct of the study and grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.

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