Omicron is affecting children in South Africa

[Fairylights25]

I am not sure how the SA doctor can be so relaxed about Omicron variant when we see the stats for children in hospital just coming out:

www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-29/young-kids-make-up-10-of-hospital-cases-in-omicron-epicenter

Not wishing to worry anyone, but why don't we know about this? No sign of this headline anywhere that I can see this morning? Or maybe there has been a thread already I have missed. I accept the doctors will be very careful with small children, but the admission rate does seem high to me,

Thanks for posting op. I started to see this last night...but was afraid to post it because of the reaction you are getting!

I didn't think it would offend anyone, and I am sorry if it has. Not my intention at all, but just to share information. The Bloomberg articles are not saying that there is an increase in deaths or anything just hospitalisation. The SA doctors on our news channels were talking about an increase in 'young people' but alluded to the fact they were late teens and early twenties etc. I do actually feel instinctively like there is something they are not telling us. Probably just my gut reaction.

Key para:

“More kids are being admitted than during the early stages of the country entering the current fourth wave of infections, although a similar trend occurred during the third wave when delta was dominant, said Waasila Jassat, public health specialist at the institute. “

White?

Also just thinking aloud, surely if they are researching and trying to understand the new variant they’ll be doing tests/checks on varying populations. I assume mostly these would be done in a hospital so I’d expect more in hospital - but not necessarily because they are Ill with covid but for testing purposes.

Not wishing to worry anyone

Yep, you intended to do just that. At least have the decency to own the fear you're trying to stir up.

In other news - bears shit in the woods.

www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/11/29/south-africa-omicron-fourth-wave-vaccine/

This has just been published in the Washington post. My SIL sent it to me (in the US this is bigger news than it is here, made worse by Biden's reassurances oddly)

"Health-care providers and officials said they are making preparations to deal with what is effectively a fourth wave of the pandemic in the country — including by ensuring there are enough pediatric hospital beds to deal with the possible increase in young children’s hospital admissions.
According to the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, which includes the heavily affected Gauteng Province, between Nov. 14 and 28, the age group with the highest total number of hospital admissions for covid were those under the age of 2"

I think we need to know this stuff. If you don't want to read it, then please don't stay on the thread, but some of us really do want to know what is happening.

[quote Fairylights25]www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/11/29/south-africa-omicron-fourth-wave-vaccine/[/quote]
all this says is there’s an increase in cases. Kids have never been immune to catching covid. It also says “ possible increase in young children’s hospital admissions”. Possible. So it’s not happened.

Just to add, Bloomberg is a legitimate news agency. Not some random clickbait site. No reason for the OP not to post a question about a reasonable concern.

Please read the second part yellow

If you want to dismiss this, then please do, some of us need to make assessments for our dc based on the actual risk as we know it so far, and that includes knowing the potential issues with this new variant.

I think from your comments this is a article from US?

Us are trying to get children 5 - 11 vaccinated.

There articles are very different to articles here and are very much along the line of how dangerous it is to kids.

We don't have a lot of Omnicr but we have had an awful lot of Delta and other Covid variants and we are excellent at research and collating the data.

It's not the same in the US as their healthcare is privatised, they don't do as much testing and not as much genomic sequencing.

Who knows how much Omnicrom will impact children- but remember that news reports are mostly targeted to a domestic audience and don't always give the full story.

The Washington Post is a respectable news outlet.

When Manaus in Brazil was having their wave there were quite high numbers of child deaths reported. It never translated to any Western country.

Young children are often admitted to hospital due to RSV and other viruses too. That doesn't stop you travelling.

There articles are very different to articles here and are very much along the line of how dangerous it is to kids

And you are not concerned about that?
I would like to have all the information - that is my preference. I imagine the scientists here would prefer to have more data before we are informed, possibly, but in the world of global news keeping a lid on information is pointless.

We don't know yet. The Washington Post or bloomberg don't know yet- respectable news outlets or not.

The article I saw said ''Under Twos have highest admission rate.. that its very different to death rate.

www.thenationalnews.com/coronavirus/2021/11/29/covid-patients-aged-2-and-under-most-likely-to-go-to-hospital-in-south-african-epicentre/

This is a typical scaremongering post linking to a very lose article with no actual facts.

Very young children are likely to be taken to hospital as a precautionary measure by their parents the same as for RSV type infections you play on the safe side with younger ones it does not mean they are suffering any worse symptoms than an older child nor does it mean they have the new variant. What is the problem with waiting a couple of weeks to hear actual facts rather than posting links to every theory or very lose anecdotal article you spot!

And you are not concerned about that?

I am not concerned yet about my children and Covid. If Omnicrom does affect children more then yes I will be concerned.

We have a much higher percentage of the right people vaccinated in the UK to the US.

That's what is important here.

I think op asked a reasonable question. If people want to reassure the op by saying that there are many factors could contribute to this data then fair enough. But you can say it nicely. Many people are trying to make sense of the latest news and want to discuss it

I am by no means dismissing it and resent the suggestion tbh. There is just no point in trying to analyse and come to an conclusion when the data and context is not there. Yet.

Also suggesting the government are ‘keeping a lid on it’. Why would they want to cause panic by publishing information that is unsubstantiated at this point. That wouldn’t do anyone any good.

What I think I can see, is the emergence of the real concern of this new variant, along with the evasion of vaccine, this would be the bigger worry for me as a mother, and for many others Everyone knows that covid infant hospitalisations is a worrying thing to read, but it doesn't make it untrue.

I have actually cancelled my flight, I was on the verge of giving up anyway, but I am not any less concerned about this development.

Fairylights I should add, I think US are so keen to get kids vaccinated as they have failed miserably with the adults.

Which is why the tone is very different in the US.

I've seen a couple of articles saying the same this morning too OP. They all say the hospital visits are precautionary. Hopefully it's not serious and more data emerges soon.

Do you think this is just a US government ploy to get kids vaccinated?
I don't, but maybe I am naive.
These reports are coming out of SA not NY.
The US has a huge anti vax movement, and this is not going to change their minds. Nothing will, they are welded to their ideology.

Is anyone else not wondering why very sensible countries are sealing off their countries like Japan and Israel etc? I am wondering why they felt the need to do that for vaccine leakage, but I could understand better if children were more affected.