Experts Say Omicron can be More Lethal for Children Than Delta

The Omicron variant might lead kids to witness more health complications than the Delta variant, warned health experts.

"Children's respiratory tract is smaller than adults. This new variant is majorly affecting the upper respiratory tract among infected patients," Animesh Arya, Senior Consultant in Respiratory Medicine, Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute, New Delhi, told IANS.

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‘According to experts, the Omicron variant can be more lethal for children as this variant primarily affects the upper respiratory tract, and children have higher respiratory rates than adults making them more susceptible to agents in the air.’

"Hence it can be said that there are possible chances of children witnessing more problems, which may be of concern but not lethal than adults," Arya added.

Tushar Tayal, Senior Consultant, Internal Medicine, Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, Gurugram, said that compared to previous variants to date, this variant is affecting more children in numbers.

The experts said that the symptoms of Omicron in kids are majorly similar to adults, like sore throat, mild fever, fatigue, etc.

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"We should be more prepared for our children's safety this time. The symptoms present in children are not much different from adults, which includes cough and cold, fever, etc.," Tayal told IANS.

"Parents should make their children stay at home as much as possible, take every COVID-19 related precaution, and take good care of their nutrition to fight severity if get infected," he added.

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According to data from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an average of 672 children were admitted to hospitals every day with COVID-19 during the last week ending Sunday -- the highest such number of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, a study by the CDC said that kids who were infected with COVID-19 had a higher risk of developing new cases of diabetes after their infection.

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Omicron is hospitalizing and killing people. The first-generation vaccines may not stop all infections and transmission, but they remain highly effective in reducing hospitalization.

In India, the Union Health Ministry on Saturday morning said that with 64 new Omicron infections being detected in the last 24 hours, the national tally of this highly transmissible COVID-19 variant has mounted to 3,071.

As per the ministry, till now, the infection has spread to 27 states and UTs. However, Maharashtra and Delhi continue to be the worst-hit states.

Source-IANS