Omicron Variant Poses Biggest Problem For Young Kids: Here's Why

Former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb has warned about the threat that the “milder” Omicron COVID-19 variant poses for young children, noting that some have suffered from more severe symptoms, such as upper airway infections.

Early data suggested that the Omicron variant, first discovered in South Africa, is less likely to cause severe illnesses and symptoms compared to previous COVID-19 variants.

“There is also some evidence that Omicron causes milder disease than Delta,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, chief of the World Health Organization, told reporters during a media briefing in early December.

Despite what early data showed, health experts in New York City and across the U.S. are raising concerns about symptoms seen in children hospitalized with COVID-19.

"The one group that may be a problem is very young kids, very young children, toddlers who have trouble with upper airway infections, and you're in fact seeing more croup-like infections and bronchiolitis in New York City among children," Gottlieb said during an appearance on “Face the Nation” on Sunday.

Rebecca Madan, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at New York University’s Langone Health hospital system, told Aljazeera that many hospitalized children who had the Omicron variant needed help breathing and hydration. Many also suffered from high fever.

Since the week ending Dec. 11, the number of children who were reported infected with COVID-19 in New York City increased by 395%, acting New York Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Basset said in a news briefing last week.

The latest data from the American Academy of Pediatrics showed that children made up more than 20% of all weekly reported cases in the week that ended Dec. 23. Children also accounted for 1.8% to 4.1% of all hospitalizations among the 24 states reporting pediatric COVID-19 data.

Health experts continue to encourage parents to get their children vaccinated to protect them from severe illness, hospitalizations and deaths caused by the Omicron variant. Parents are also encouraged to reconsider replacing cloth masks with disposable masks, such as surgical masks and N95 masks.

While cloth masks can still be worn, health experts advise against wearing them alone and say that a cloth mask should be worn on top of a three-ply surgical mask.