By Heidi LedfordA comprehensive analysis of hospital admissions and reported deaths across England suggests that Covid-19 carries a lower risk of dying or requiring intensive care among children and young people than was previously thought. The studies found that Covid-19 caused 25 deaths in that age group between March 2020 and February 2021. “The low rate of severe acute disease is important news, but this does not have to mean that Covid-19 does not matter to children,” said paediatrician Danilo Buonsenso at the Gemelli University Hospital in Rome. The team found that, of 6,338 hospital admissions for Covid-19, 259 children and young people required treatment in paediatric intensive-care units. Black children were more likely than their white counterparts to require intensive care, both for Covid-19 and for paediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome, a rare syndrome associated with coronavirus infection.

Source: The Nation July 18, 2021 19:41 UTC