Characteristics and Clinical Outcomes of Children and Adolescents Aged <18 Years Hospitalized with COVID-19 — Six Hospitals, United States, July–August 2021
Valentine Wanga, Megan E. Gerdes, Dallas S. Shi, Rewa Choudhary, Theresa M. Dulski, Sophia Hsu, Osatohamwen I. Idubor, Bryant J. Webber, Arthur M. Wendel, Nickolas T. Agathis, Kristi Anderson, Tricia Boyles, Sophia Chiu, Eleanor S. Click, Juliana da Silva, Hannah Dupont, Mary E. Evans, Jeremy A.W. Gold, Julia C. Haston, Pamela Logan, Susan A. Maloney, Marisol Martínez, Pavithra Natarajan, BMBS, Kevin B. Spicer, Mark A. Swancutt, Valerie Stevens, Jessica Brown, Gyan Chandra, Megan Light, Frances Barr, Jessica Snowden, Larry K. Kociolek, Matthew D. McHugh, David Wessel, Joelle N. Simpson, Kathleen Gorman, Kristen Breslin, Roberta L. DeBiasi, Aaron Thompson, Mark W. Kline, Julie A. Boom, Ila R. Singh, Michael Dowlin, Mark Wietecha, Beth Schweitzer, Sapna Bamrah Morris, Emily H. Koumans, Jean Y. Ko, Anne Kimball, David A. Siegel
Abstract
During June 2021, the highly transmissible B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, became the predominant circulating strain in the United States. U.S. pediatric COVID-19-related hospitalizations increased during July-August 2021 following emergence of the Delta variant and peaked in September 2021. As of May 12, 2021, CDC recommended COVID-19 vaccinations for persons aged 12 years, and on November 2, 2021, COVID-19 vaccinations were recommended for persons aged 5-11 years.** To date, clinical signs and symptoms, illness course, and factors contributing to hospitalizations during the period of Delta predominance have not been well described in pediatric patients. CDC partnered with six children's hospitals to review medical record data for patients aged <18 years with COVID-19-related hospitalizations during July-August 2021. Among 915 patients identified, 713 (77.9%) were hospitalized for COVID-19 (acute COVID-19 as the primary or contributing reason for hospitalization), 177 (19.3%) had incidental positive SARS-CoV-2 test results (asymptomatic or mild infection unrelated to the reason for hospitalization), and 25 (2.7%) had multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), a rare but serious inflammatory condition associated with COVID-19. Among the 713 patients * These authors contributed equally to this report.