CORONA South Africa investigates "sharp increase" in hospitalized children with COVID

Troke

On TB every waking moment

South Africa investigates "sharp increase" in hospitalized children with COVID
BY ALEXANDER TIN

DECEMBER 3, 2021 / 6:19 PM / CBS NEWS

South African health officials said Friday they are investigating a recent surge in cases among younger age groups not seen in previous waves of the virus, as the country battles an "unprecedented" surge of COVID-19 cases it believes is fueled by the Omicron variant.


Officials in South Africa are not saying that there's any evidence the variant poses a greater danger to the youngest children, compared to previous variants - all ages in South Africa are seeing a "steep increase" in infections and hospitalizations.

Instead, some may have incidentally tested positive for COVID-19 after being hospitalized for other reasons, or are being admitted by health care providers as a precaution.

"We are hoping that in the coming weeks we'll be able to also give reasons for why this particular cohort of patient is having increased infections," said Dr. Ntsakisi Maluleke, a health official for South Africa's Gauteng province, at a briefing hosted by the country's health agency on Friday.

Rates of COVID-19 among hospitalized younger children in South Africa under five "is now second highest and second only to the incidence in those over 60."

"The trend that we see now, that's different to what we saw before, is a particular increase in hospital admissions in children under five years," said Dr. Waasila Jassat of South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases.

These children also remain ineligible for vaccination in South Africa, unlike older age groups.

"All these young children being admitted, most of them, the parents have not been vaccinated either. So I think, certainly the value of vaccination in the adults, protecting the children in the homes, is something to keep in mind," said Jassat.

While doctors had suspected earlier in the pandemic that children might be less vulnerable catching and spreading SARS-CoV-2, health officials have since concluded that rates of disease among children "can be comparable, and in some settings higher, than in adults."

During the surge in cases driven by the Delta variant earlier this year, pediatricians reported an unprecedented wave of admissions overwhelming children's hospitals around the country.

A study published by the CDC concluded that hospitalizations had climbed simply due to the sheer number of overall cases, with the actual proportion of sick children who ended up with severe disease remaining unchanged by the Delta variant.

"We don't have the outcome data for those individuals. We haven't seen an increased risk of death yet. So we have to wait to understand how those patients will do," the World Health Organization's Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove said on Friday, when she was asked about reports of rising hospitalizations among young people in South Africa.

U.S. health officials say they are closely tracking data from South Africa and other countries that have seen cases of Omicron, as they look for potential clues to assessing the variant's danger as it begins to spread in the United States.

"Because of the volume of cases that they have thus far, are ahead of us in the sense of being able to take a look at differences in protection, immune evasion, severity of disease in people who have either been vaccinated, people who have been unvaccinated, or people who have recovered from prior infection," Dr. Anthony Fauci, the president's chief medical adviser, told reporters on Friday.

In a study that has yet to be peer-reviewed, South African scientists recently reported seeing an increased risk of reinfection from Omicron.

Officials there said Friday their "limited data" currently suggests the "variant is highly transmissible" and is so far causing mostly mild illness, but warned that could change as Omicron spreads "into older age groups."

Meanwhile out of Hong Kong, the CDC published a study on Friday suggesting Omicron may be transmissible enough to spread, despite the country's already strict quarantine measures.

More data from lab experiments and real-world tracking of the variant are expected in the coming weeks that could help officials assess the risk posed by the highly-mutated strain.

"That's all going to take a matter of maybe a week or two more to get the in vitro data, and maybe another additional week or so to get the clinical data. So we expect we're going to have that information to you over the next few weeks," said Fauc
 

Troke

On TB every waking moment
Notice how they don't mention how bad these "cases" are. The doctor in Africa who discovered the Omicron variant says that it's nothing more than a little soreness and some fatigue. Whoo. :rolleyes:
Sure sounds like a good reason to put the kid in the hospital? I don't think so. We may find out O aint much shucks unless you are less than 16 yrs old. Then maybe bad news.
 

JMG91

Veteran Member
Sure sounds like a good reason to put the kid in the hospital? I don't think so. We may find out O aint much shucks unless you are less than 16 yrs old. Then maybe bad news.
Here's my issue though. The "health officials" are the ones stating this; in other words, an arm of their government. The doctors in South Africa, however, have been saying that this thing is no big deal. Folks get a little sore and fatigued, and they're sent home in short order. I'm simply very skeptical of anything coming of this, since the whole Covid thing was a farce in order to foment government control in the first place.

And if their manufactured virus kills off a bunch of useless eaters at the same time, so much the better for the elites. The omicron variant has already been stated to be much more contagious, but barely a sniffle. Doctors over there have stated they're not concerned about it. I'm guessing the doc they interviewed for this article is on the payroll; but even she merely stated that they're seeing a lot of hospitalizations, NOT that the children were in any kind of critical condition.
 

Thinwater

Firearms Manufacturer
They key is they admit the children are admitted WITH COVID, not BECAUSE of having COVID. They just tested them for it incident to being there for other reasons that children end up in the hospital for.

If they were actually suffering from the effects of COVID you could bet your last dollar they would be reporting it in the most exaggerating of terms, just like they titled this story.
 

Kathy in FL

Administrator
_______________
Notice how they don't mention how bad these "cases" are. The doctor in Africa who discovered the Omicron variant says that it's nothing more than a little soreness and some fatigue. Whoo. :rolleyes:

This is exactly what I was searching for in the article. It isn't there. But given how they would love to say # cases were hospitalized or # of cases in ICU, I suspect this is common cold stuff where parents have been scared out of their gourd and ran their kid to the doc just in case.
 

iboya

Veteran Member
Interesting, the reports from doctors right there in South Africa are saying that as of today omicron is extremely mild but easily transmitted.

Boots on the ground doctors are also agreeing that the world wide media is falsely reporting omicron is worse than it really is for their own purpose.
 

Jackpine Savage

Veteran Member
Dr John Campbell went over some SA data yesterday or the day before. Right now omicron makes up over 80% of cases. But 60% of the cases identified in the hospital were 'incidental', they were in the hospital for some other reason. My guess is the OP article is part of the push to get kids jabbed.
 

Wildweasel

F-4 Phantoms Phorever
Omichron MAY BE GOD STOPPING COVID.
By making a harmless, highly contagious version of COVID to replace Delta.

That was the predicted outcome when it first started two years ago. Covid 19 was going to evolve into ever milder strains within a couple of years and fade from public view. Just like how the Spanish Flu went from being a raging, global epidemic to nothing within a couple of years.

It's the natural progress of flu-type viruses to become more transmissible but milder, eventually becoming considered to be nothing but common colds.

Today's question is "Will the government, media and big pharma recognize what's taking place and back off? Or will they be unwilling to let go of their power and cash cow, pressing forward as if this new version of the common cold is the next civilization ending plague?"

Option 1 takes common sense and following historically proven science. So stand by for TPTB to unveil the next act of their clown show and screw things up even worse.
 
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