CNN
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Covid-19 is the eighth most common cause of death in children in the United States Research Published on Monday.
Children are significantly less likely to die from Covid-19 than any other age group – fewer than 1% of deaths since the outbreak began have been among those under 18, according to the feds. Data. Covid-19 is the third leading cause of death in the general population.
But child deaths from any cause are rare, the researchers say, so the burden of Covid-19 is better understood than other child deaths.
“Death in children is rare by any measure. It’s unexpected and extraordinarily tragic. It’s a profound event,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary, chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Infectious Diseases Committee.
“Everybody knows that Covid is more severe in the elderly and those with weakened immune systems and less severe in children, but that does not mean it is a dangerous disease in children. Just because the numbers are much lower in children doesn’t mean they don’t have an effect.
In the year In 2019, the year before the epidemic, the main causes of death for children and adults aged 0 to 19 were birth conditions, unintentional injuries, congenital injuries or deformities, violence, suicide, malignant tumors, heart and influenza diseases and pneumonia.
In the 12-month period from August 2021 to July 2022, there were 821 Covid-19 deaths in this age group, the researchers found in an analysis of data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This death rate – about 1 in 100,000 children aged 0 to 19 – ranks eighth compared to 2019 data. It ranks fifth among teenagers aged 15 to 19.
Covid-19 deaths overtake influenza and pneumonia as the leading cause of death from any infectious or respiratory disease. It has caused “realistically” more deaths than any vaccine-preventable disease in history, the researchers wrote.
According to C.C.C Data, children are less likely than any other age group in the US to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Less than 10% of eligible children have received an improved booster shot, and more than 90% of children under 5 years of age are not fully vaccinated.
Whether you’re talking about motor vehicle accidents or childhood cancer – if we look at all those major causes of death and say, ‘Gosh, if we had something simple and safe, we could do it to eliminate one. Shouldn’t we just skip them?” With Covid, we have it with a vaccine,” said O’Leary, professor of pediatric infectious diseases at the Colorado School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital Colorado.
CDC survey Blood samples showed that more than 90% of the children had had Covid-19 at least once.
O’Leary said it’s unclear how dangerous the virus could be, but it’s clear the benefits of the vaccine outweigh any risks.
“A vaccine is clearly our best option right now,” he said, adding that the benefits outweigh the risks. “Better sorry than sorry.”
The findings of the new study, published in JAMA Network Open, may underestimate the mortality burden of Covid-19 because the analysis focuses on deaths where Covid-19 was the cause of death, but not on how it may have been a contributing factor. The researchers wrote. Also, other analyzes of excess deaths suggest that Covid-19 deaths are underreported.
As Covid-19 continues to spread in the US, the researchers said interventions such as vaccination and ventilation “continue to play an important role in limiting the spread of the virus and preventing severe disease.”