By Leada Gore
Alabama is seeing an unprecedented surge in pediatric COVID cases with almost 5 times as many 5-17-year-olds diagnosed with the virus this year compared to last year.
According to the Alabama Department of Public Health, between Aug. 1-12 of 2020, Alabama had 1,356 reports of COVID in patients ages 5-17. That number soared to 6,181 for the same age range for the same time period of 2021.
In the past four weeks, 6.2% of cases of COVID-19 in Alabama have been among children 0-4 years of age while 8.1% have been in the 5 to 17 age range. The current percent positive rate in people ages 5-17 in Alabama is higher than the state average, with at least 27 percent of COVID tests in children being positive.
At least 50 children have been hospitalized statewide and, recently, the state had at least 9 children on a ventilator in a single day.
ADPH Pediatrician Dr. Karen Landers said the number of children experiencing illness and hospitalizations has her “very concerned.”
“COVID-19 can be a very serious illness in children with at least 6% of children experiencing long-term consequences of this disease,” Landers said. “At least 113 children in our state have suffered from Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome of Childhood (MIS-C), a severe illness that occurs after COVID disease and affects several organs, including the brain, heart, lungs, and kidneys, among other body systems.
“All Alabamians need to take the threat of this virus more seriously than ever before and implement all preventive and mitigation measures to protect the children of Alabama,” Landers added.
Dr. Benjamin Estrada, Director, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Professor of Pediatrics, University of South Alabama College of Medicine, said the surge is due to the spread of the delta variant.
“Delta variant accounts for most of the SARS-CoV-2 cases in Alabama, based upon surveillance. delta can replicate more quickly and infect earlier than previous SARS-CoV-2 variants. These factors are fueling the surge of COVID-19 among Alabama’s children,” Estrada said.
ADPH is recommending people speak to their child’s doctor and urges all children ages 12 and above be vaccinated against COVID. Also, ADPH recently issued school guidance on mask-wearing and recommending any child who has COVID should remain in home isolation for 10 days.