COVID-19 Briefings and Research
Valley Children's strives to provide our communities with the most up-do-date guidance we have available from our own data, public health assessments, and research on COVID-19 and pediatrics and related comorbidities. On this page, you can find a collection of resources compiled to keep community members and leaders informed as we move forward together.
The State of Our Children: Kids and COVID-19 Briefing Summaries
Click on a link below to view and download our briefings on children and COVID-19.
Valley Children's Publications Regarding COVID-19
Key Findings from Recent Pediatric Research
- From the October 5, 2020 briefing:
On September 23, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released preliminary Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) data revealing that during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), vaccination rates, primary and preventive services among children in Medicaid and CHIP have steeply declined.
Although the start of the school season has been different for children as many began their education virtually, the critical need for children to receive preventative and routine healthcare persists. It is important for families to catch up on well-child visits and for schools to ensure that children are up to date on their immunizations.
Families are encouraged to contact their primary care provider if they are not up to date on their regularly scheduled visits and immunizations to protect children from vaccine-preventable diseases.
- From the September 14, 2020 briefing:
On September 10, 2020, the AAP and CHA issued a joint report on children and COVID-19.
The summary of their findings is included here. The complete statement is available at www.aap.org.
Cumulative Number of Child COVID-19 Cases*
• 549,432 total child COVID-19 cases reported, and children represented 10% (549,432/5,493,006) of all cases
• Overall rate: 729 cases per 100,000 children in the population
Change in Child COVID-19 Cases, 8/27/20 – 9/10/20
• 72,993 new child cases reported from 8/27-9/10 (476,439 to 549,432), a 15% increase in child cases over 2 weeks
Testing (11 states reported)*
• Children made up between 4%-15% of total state tests, and between 3.3%-16.6% of children tested were tested positive
Hospitalizations (24 states and NYC reported)*
• Children were 0.6%-3.6% of total reported hospitalizations, and between 0.3%-8.2% of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in hospitalization
Mortality (42 states and NYC reported)*
• Children were 0%-0.3% of all COVID-19 deaths, and 18 states reported zero child deaths
• In states reporting, 0%-0.2% of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in death
Data aggregated from the health department websites of 49 states, New York City, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam.
*Data represent cumulative counts since states began reporting; all data reported by state/local health departments are preliminary
and subject to change.
- From the September 1, 2020 briefing:
Additional research relevant to the question of kids and COVID-19 continues to be reported. In a soon-to-be-published study in the Journal of Pediatric Infectious Diseases (August 11, 2020), authors “investigated the dynamics of illness among household members of SARS-CoV-2 infected children that received medical care (n=32). [They] identified 144 household contacts (HCs): 58 children and 86 adults. 46% percent of HCs developed symptoms consistent with COVID-19 disease. Child-to-adult transmission was suspected in seven cases.” “Children comprise of a small proportion of overall COVID-19 cases at 5.2% of laboratory-confirmed infections in the US. However, these data are likely an under-representation of the true pediatric infection burden as initial reports occurred in the setting of school closures and shelter-in-place orders. As the US economy reopens, a dramatic increase of cases has occurred in several states. Recent studies have shown that children may be both as likely to become infected as adults and to infect others, but are less likely to have symptoms, suggesting that they have the potential to be silent facilitators. A better understanding of the role children play in the chain of viral transmission is urgently needed.”
- Key insight: This study reveals that children may be a potential source of contagion in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in spite of milder disease or lack of symptoms, and immune dysregulation is implicated in severe post-infectious MIS-C.
- From the August 18, 2020 briefing:
Additional research relevant to the question of kids and COVID-19 continues to be reported. In a soon-to-be-published study in the Journal of Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (August 11, 2020), authors “investigated the dynamics of illness among household members of SARS-CoV-2 infected children that received medical care (n=32). [They] identified 144 household contacts (HCs): 58 children and 86 adults. 46% percent of HCs developed symptoms consistent with COVID-19 disease. Child-to-adult transmission was suspected in seven cases.”
- Key insight: “Recent studies have shown that children may be both as likely to become infected as adults and to infect others, but are less likely to have symptoms, suggesting that they have the potential to be silent facilitators. A better understanding of the role children play in the chain of viral transmission is urgently needed.”
- From the July 30, 2020 briefing:
In the July 30, 2020, online edition of JAMA Pediatrics, physicians from the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital (Chicago) and the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine report that their analysis of 145 patients suggests that “children younger than 5 years with mild to moderate COVID-19 have high amounts of SARSCoV-2 viral RNA in their nasopharynx compared with older children and adults. Behavioral habits of young children and close quarters in school and day care settings raise concern for SARS-CoV-2 amplification in this population as public health restrictions are eased. In addition to public health implications, this population will be important for targeting immunization efforts as SARS-CoV-2 vaccines become available.” (www.jamapediatrics.com)
- Analysis from Valley Children's Chief Medical Officer: "This study concludes that young children have 10-100x more COVID-19 in their upper respiratory tract compared to adults and, therefore, they can potentially be important drivers of COVID-19 spread in the general population. This study, along with others, offers evidence that children are, in fact, both driving the transmission of COVID-19, as well becoming ill from the virus. We will provide updates on current research in subsequent briefings.
- From the July 23, 2020 briefing:
From a recent study of 59,073 contacts from 5,706 COVID-19 cases in South Korea released on the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, the data demonstrates that transmission rates for children between the ages of 10-19 years of age is 18.6%, providing evidence that children–and older school-aged children, in particular–do transmit COVID-19.