using official data running from the beginning of records up until final protections in England were removed on April 1st 2022
At Long Covid Kids we believe that all children should be able to thrive and look forward to a positive future. This is why our Charity represents and supports children and young people living with Long Covid, related illnesses and the parents and caregivers who look after them.
Contents
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Why analyse child-specific COVID-19 data?
From as early as January 2020 the UK was reassured that SARS-Cov-2 infection in children was akin to a cold virus; children didn't appear to significantly transmit and they didn't become ill or die. This narrative has been consistently backed by flawed and misrepresented research which has caused confusion and embedded into the heart of communities. Paediatric research and funding have been slow and the myth that children are rarely harmed by infection lingers along with handwashing being the best defence. SARS-CoV-2 is airborne.
The fallacy of relative privation asserts that if something is worse than the current problem, then the problem being discussed isn't really important. Comparing adult with child data has led to this. The magnitude of adult COVID-19 hospital admissions combined with their publicity has ensured that the plight of adults has consistently overshadowed all child SARS-CoV-2 infection experiences with any reference to child harm usually framed as 'scaremongering'. Long Covid Kids has worked hard to counter this narrative by striving to be a voice for all children and young people impacted by SARS-CoV-2 infection.
From the very beginning of the pandemic, Long Covid Kids have presented the real story of lived experience on the ground as it has unfolded. In addition to this, since records began our data team have extrapolated child from adult data to analyse the effect of the pandemic specifically on and between children.
Children are not small adults
Children's bodies are designed for growth
Children don't usually become chronically ill or die
Two years on Long Covid Kids are now a Charity. Our mission is awareness, support, research and action. By removing adult data from that provided by the Government Dashboard, The UK Health Security Agency and The Office for National Statistics we ensure that we ‘see’ children. We look into child-specific official statistics, evidence the impact of Covid-19 infection on the child population and present charts to illustrate that data.
This article evidences the effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection on children from the beginning of records up until all protections were removed in England on the 1st April 2022.
Click To Skip To Data sources
Summary grid from “Shining A Light on Long Covid in Children” Guidebook
Do Children Transmit SARS-CoV-2?
"With high heterogeneity (99%) children can transmit #SARSCoV2 just like adults"
Chair of British Paediatric Surveillance Unit, January 14th 2022
Can Children Be Reinfected With SARS-CoV-2 Multiple Times?
Yes, they can. There is currently no mechanism to separately analyse reinfections versus original infections by age but UKHSA is considering adding this feature. Most parents are aware of a child who has been infected two or more times. Sadly we have children in our Support Services living with Long Covid who have tested positive up to three times. We also support children who did not develop Long Covid until their second or third infection.
Wales was the first to add reinfections to their data
England reinfections were added on 31st Jan 2022
N Ireland reinfections were added on 17th Feb 2022
Scotland reinfections were added on 1st March 2022
UKHSA considers reinfection as a positive test more than 90 days after the previous positive COVID-19 test. Anecdotally Omicron is causing reinfections sooner and the CDC in the United States has identified Covid-19 reinfections as little as 23 days apart
Omicron is causing relatively more reinfections in children than adults. The latest data shows nearly a quarter of all cases in 10-14-year-olds are reinfections.
This graph shows us the percentage of possible Covid-19 reinfections experienced in different age groups in England only as of 31st March 2022
This graph shows us the percentage of children in England reinfected with
SARS-CoV-2 after 90 days*
*A positive test outside of 90 days is considered reinfection. Positive tests for any variant of COVID-19 within 90 days are considered part of the same case episode" UKHSA
Is The Omicron SARS-CoV-2 Variant More Harmful To Children?
There was more than double the rate of child Covid-19 hospital admissions in the Omicron peak than in former waves and sadly more children continue to be hospitalised and in higher numbers than before the arrival of the Omicron variant. During its peak in January 2022, 8.5% of all Covid-19 hospital admissions were children.
Presently 4.7% of all Covid-19 hospital admissions are children (UKHSA England, average for the 7 days to 31st March 2022),
There were 699 child Covid-19 hospital admissions in the week to 31st March 2022 (UKHSA, England)
There is no official information available regarding the discharge outcomes for any of these hospitalised children. We, therefore, do not know how many went on to receive care under a GP or paediatrician, or for how long. Observations from our Support Services have been highlighted to both the Government and NHS in official meetings.
What Constitutes an 'Underlying Medical Condition' in the Data?
We often hear data reported with the caveat that the children had “underlying conditions”. But what constitutes an underlying condition?
The ‘pre-existing conditions’ category includes chronic conditions that would rarely cause death on their own, such as;
Any mental health diagnosis
Common conditions that can range from trivial to severely life-limiting
An ‘other’ label that appears to be any condition (e.g. eczema)
For context, UK data shows us that:
1 in 11 children is living with asthma. The UK has one of the highest prevalence, emergency admission and death rates for childhood asthma in Europe
36 000 children are living with diabetes
1 in 100 children has been diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder
20% of children are living with eczema
Long Covid Kids consider the life, health and wellbeing of all children as of equal value.
What Do We Know About Child Covid-19 Hospital Admissions?
"NHS England conducted a very rapid evaluation of around 50 admissions of babies with Omicron across around 33 hospitals. For context, we were hospitalising 500+ under 5's per week with Covid-19 during the Omicron peak in January, and the latest data shows another wave may be arriving with 56 hospitalised on the 6th March alone.
Are these youngsters being infected by their school-aged siblings?"
James Neill, LCK Data Analyst
Research published in July 2021 shows that a quarter of children experienced persistent symptoms months after hospitalisation with acute Covid-19 infection, with almost one in ten experiencing multi-system involvement. Older age and allergic diseases were associated with a higher risk of persistent symptoms at follow-up.
Child Covid-19 hospital admissions exclude RSV which uses a separate test. Official data shows us that child Covid-19 hospital admissions are currently higher than RSV (1st April 2022)
Government research shows us that 80% of admissions in the first two waves of the pandemic, including the Alpha variant, were directly due to Covid-19 and 60% of those have no underlying conditions
As of 14th January 2022, the New York State analysis of Omicron stated that 53% of child hospital admissions list Covid-19 as the primary reason. For all admissions in England, NHS currently reports that 44% are primarily due to Covid-19. There is no separate % for children as yet.
Number of child COVID-19 hospital admissions per day running from
the beginning of records until 1st April 2022. England Only
How do COVID-19 Hospital Admissions Compare With Those of Flu and RSV?
Using official data this graph shows that since mid-December 2021 children under 5
have been at greater risk from COVID-19 hospital admission than RSV or flu
What Do We Know About PIMs Hospital Admissions?
PIMS hospital admissions are in addition to child COVID-19 admissions
PIMs typically appear 4-6 weeks after infection
Therefore, these children are usually admitted to the hospital after the 14-day testing cut-off period.
Long Covid Kids have been highlighting in official meetings that non-hospitalised presentations consistent with PIMs have been seen in their
Support Services since 2020.
Is The Omicron Variant More Harmful To Children?
There was more than double the rate of child Covid-19 hospital admissions in the Omicron peak than in former waves and sadly more children continue to be hospitalised and in higher numbers than before the arrival of the Omicron variant. During its peak in January 2022, 8.5% of all Covid-19 hospital admissions were children.
Presently 4.7% of all Covid-19 hospital admissions are children (UKHSA England, average for the 7 days to 31st March 2022),
There were 699 child Covid-19 hospital admissions in the week to 31st March 2022 (UKHSA, England)
There is no official information available regarding the discharge outcomes for any of these hospitalised children. We, therefore, do not know how many went on to receive care under a GP or paediatrician, or for how long.
Paediatric COVID-19 Deaths
Fake News: “Only 6 healthy children” have died from Covid-19. A fact check explainer is published in the BMJ
An article led by Dr Tom Lawton looks at this issue in detail, with input from three of our own Long Covid Kids experts, Dr Deepti Gurdasani, Dr Stephen Griffin and LCK Consultant Data Analyst, James Neill.
58% of paediatric deaths since "Freedom Day' (ONS, England & Wales)
109 COVID-19 deaths registered to 31st March 2022 (ONS,