More and more babies in clinics: omicron wave causes hospitalizations in Great Britain to rise
Created: 01/18/2022 11:24 am
By: Jennifer Lanzinger
A baby grabs his foot with his fingers.
© Fabian Strauch/dpa/symbol image
More and more babies have to be treated in a clinic in the omicron wave in Great Britain with a corona infection.
An evaluation now shows an increase in past corona waves.
London – It's every parent's nightmare: their own child has to be treated in a clinic for a corona infection. Exactly this scenario is currently happening more frequently in Great Britain than in the other three corona waves before. Experts illustrate the increase in hospitalization within the individual corona waves. Fortunately, however, the babies do not seem to be more severely affected by the virus infection.
More and more babies in clinics: omicron wave causes hospitalizations in Great Britain to rise
Shortly after the discovery of the omicron variant, experts in South Africa reported an increase in the number of sick children. A striking number of them had to be treated with a corona infection in a clinic. A phenomenon that is now apparently also happening in Great Britain. As the
medical journal
now reports, citing an evaluation by the British health authorities’ COVID-19 Clinical Information Network (CO-CIN), more babies in Great Britain currently have to be treated by doctors in a clinic than in the last three corona waves.
In general, a coronavirus infection affects children less severely than adults.
Even in the current omicron wave, children are much less likely to need hospital treatment than young adults or even significantly older people.
The course of a corona disease in infants and children is in most cases milder than in older people.
Omicron wave in UK: more babies in hospital than during delta wave
However, as the current evaluation from Great Britain shows, children under the age of one in particular have to be treated in a clinic more often than older children. As the
medical journal
further reports with reference to the CO-CIN, infant hospitalization was just over 30 percent (32.9 percent) in the first corona wave. In the second wave, this was 30.4 percent, in the delta wave 30.2 percent. In the current Omicron wave, the proportion has risen to 37.8 percent. A recent update of the evaluation even resulted in a value of 42.2 percent.
However, as the evaluation also shows, the children are less often affected by a severe course.
Despite treatment in the clinic, the infants tend to have a milder course.
There were also no deaths recorded in Great Britain.
There was one death in an older age group among children, and a girl in the age group of 5 to 11 years succumbed to the corona disease.
More and more infants in omicron wave in the hospital: what is the reason?
The precise background to the increasing hospitalization rate for infants in Great Britain is still unclear.
However, as the
medical journal
cites a possible explanation from University of Southampton medic Alasdair Munro, older children may have acquired immunity from both vaccinations and mostly asymptomatic infections in previous waves.
Newborns do not yet have this immunity.
Your immune system is not yet prepared for the omicron variant, the expert continues.
Germany is also currently struggling with increasing numbers of infections.
The Robert Koch Institute once again reported a new high.
