Florida pediatric chiefs: Take threat of childhood COVID seriously

Glenn Flores, Daniel Armstrong, Patricia Emmanuel, Mark Hudak and Desmond Schatz
·4 min read

As chairs of pediatrics in Florida’s medical schools, we are unified in our fight to protect Florida’s children against COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, deaths and long-term consequences.

About 8.4 million US children — over 1 in 10 — have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic onset. More children are testing positive than ever before and the numbers are skyrocketing. COVID-19 is disrupting how children learn and families function.

COVID-19 is not a benign infection in children. Hospitalizations of children with COVID-19 soared by 52% over the last month to reach an all-time peak and 823 U.S. children have died of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. Another 55 children have died of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), a late result of COVID-19 infection, and there is emerging evidence that some children, even those with mild symptoms, experience “long-haul” COVID with long-lasting breathing, heart, brain and cognitive problems, including diabetes risk.

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Vaccines are safe and effective. Nevertheless, two months after the Food and Drug Administration approved COVID-19 vaccinations for 5- to 11-year-olds, only 14% have received the initial two immunizations, and only 53% of 12- to 17-year-olds are fully vaccinated.

We propose several actions:

• We must leverage the power of accurate, real-time data to combat pediatric COVID-19. We urgently need a Florida state online dashboard that provides daily updated pediatric data on numbers of pediatric COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, intensive-care-unit admissions, MIS-C cases and deaths. This dashboard should also provide data by county to identify hot spots and outbreaks; vaccination rates; and infection rates among children who are unvaccinated, received at least one vaccine dose and received all recommended doses.

• We urgently need to improve how we communicate with parents about the importance of COVID-19 vaccines, counteract misinformation and increase vaccination rates. Multiple studies document vaccination decreases infections, severe disease, hospitalizations and deaths. Recent surveys, however, indicate 47% of parents of 12- to 17-year-olds and 68% of parents of 5- to 11-year-olds say they will definitely not get their child vaccinated, will only do so if required by schools or want to wait and see how vaccinations are working for other children. We must work to increase booster vaccines in children because the current omicron surge threatens further disruption of our schools. And we must be ready in the spring to immunize children under 5 years old if data demonstrate vaccine effectiveness and safety, particularly since the number of such young children hospitalized over the past month has reached a pandemic all-time high.

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• We need better outreach to our most vulnerable populations. Compared with their white counterparts, Black, Latino and Asian children have lower rates of COVID-19 testing but are more likely to be infected; Black and Latino children and those with chronic illnesses or developmental disabilities are more likely to be hospitalized and develop MIS-C; and Latino, Black and Native American children have higher death rates. Better outreach can be achieved by community engagement and pediatric mobile clinics administering vaccines in underserved neighborhoods.

• We must ensure that any child who needs COVID-19 testing can obtain it expeditiously. Our greatest improvements in child health — from vaccines that protect against many childhood infections to survival of infants born four months early — were achieved because we followed the science. So we must use science to protect our children in schools and day care. Besides vaccination, the most effective measures for reducing COVID-19 infection risk are properly using medical masks, frequent hand washing and discouraging face touching. These measures should be consistently implemented in Florida’s schools and day care, along with evidence-based protocols for testing, isolation and quarantining, and urging vaccination of adults caring for children in our schools and day care.

Dr. Glenn Flores is chair of pediatrics and senior associate dean of child health at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Daniel Armstrong is executive vice chair of pediatrics and director of the Mailman Center for Child Development at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Patricia Emmanuel is chair of pediatrics at the University of South Florida College of Medicine. Dr. Mark Hudak is chair of pediatrics at the University of Florida College of Medicine — Jacksonville. Dr. Desmond Schatz is interim chair of pediatrics at the University of Florida College of Medicine.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida pediatricians call for action to fight COVID among children