The number of children not yet eligible for vaccination who are needing hospital treatment as a result of coronavirus in the Americas has risen.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has warned children are representing a larger percentage of hospitalisations, but serious cases remain low.
Meanwhile, the regional branch of the World Health Organization (WHO) says that infections among children and adolescents in the Americas this year have surpassed 1.9 million cases, and warned they face significant health risks.
Latest figures in the US show that paediatric cases have increased and made up 28.9% of infections in the week ending September 9, or more than 243,000 cases. Experts say the surge, coinciding with increased circulation of the delta variant, has translated into more Covid-related hospitalisations among children and adolescents, although serious cases remain proportionately rare.
Delta is at least twice as infectious as the original coronavirus strain and is causing more Covid-19 cases across all age groups. There’s no evidence that delta is targeting children more than other age groups, but vaccination rates are higher in older people.
Earlier this week, the Welsh Government confirmed that the vaccination programme would be rolled out to 12 to 15 year olds in Wales. More details are here.
Coronavirus remains a mild disease in the vast majority of children, and there's no evidence that delta is changing that.
Among American states reporting data, children made up 1.6% to 4% of the total number of Covid-19 patients hospitalised since the pandemic began, and 0.1%-1.9% of paediatric cases have resulted in hospitalisation, according to the American Academy of Paediatrics.. Often children are hospitalised for other reasons and coincidentally test positive.
Children represent less than 0.3% of all Covid fatalities in the US, and their mortality risk is less than 0.03%, the academy said.
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