52% of those infected with the third corona disease wave were aged 16-0 • Prof. Tzachi Grossman: "The British mutation causes an increase in infection in children"
The number of children up to the age of 16 infected
with corona
doubled between the second and third waves:
in the second wave, 69,599 children aged 0 to 16 were diagnosed with corona, and in the third wave there were 148,651 children and adolescents infected with the virus.
On the other hand, there was no increase in the rate of hospitalized.
This is according to data from the Ministry of Health.
In both waves, the share of children from the ultra-Orthodox sector was large: in the second wave 38% of the children who were infected were ultra-Orthodox and in the third wave they constituted a third.
Children accounted for 44% of all those infected in the second wave and 52% of those infected in the third wave.
In the first wave, there were 2,620 people aged 16-0.
Beyond that, the number of children who needed hospitalization was 75 in the first wave, 548 in the second wave and 653 in the third wave.
Despite the warnings, the proportion of children hospitalized was very low - usually less than 1%.
In the general sector, the proportion of children in need of hospitalization was 0.87% in the second wave and dropped to 0.45% in the third wave.
In the ultra-Orthodox sector, 0.5% of children in the second wave needed hospitalization and 0.31% in the third wave.
In the Arab sector, 1.24% of children infected in the second wave reached hospitalization and 0.71% in the third wave.
At the same time, the children who needed hospitalization were usually in a mild condition.
In the second wave, 1.1% of the hospitalized children were in critical condition and 5.8% in critical condition;
And in the third wave, 2.5% of the 653 children were in critical condition and 4.1% were in critical condition.
"Attacking the children"
Prof. Tzachi Grossman, chairman of the Association of Pediatrics, says that "the data prove what they claimed, that the British mutation causes an increase in infection in children."
"There is evidence that in adults it causes a serious illness, but in children it is seen as not serious. The British mutation 'attacks' more children but is no longer dangerous."
Prof. Hagai Levin, an epidemiologist and physician specializing in public health, the Hebrew University and Hadassah, explains that "the data make it clear that there was no justification for the extensive closure of the education system in Israel, unusually compared to the world. The children became infected in the third closure even when the education system was closed, evidence that the education system is not the main engine for infection. "
