L.A. County Pediatric Hospitalizations Increase

According to L.A. County Health Department data, pediatric hospitalizations increased by nearly 190% between December 4th and December 25th.

By News Desk

While the numbers of children hospitalized remain very small, those 0-4 years old saw the biggest rise in rates with a 3.25-fold increase, followed by 12-to-17- year- old teens, who had a 3.0-fold increase, and 5-to-11 -year- old, who saw an increase of 1.5-fold. Cases among children have also increased by 207% from the two-week period starting on November 8^th to the two-week period ending on December 26th.

Pediatric cases and hospitalizations rising

With pediatric cases and hospitalizations rising and many children returning to in-person learning this week, Public Health asks that everyone focus on following the public health safety measures that reduce spread including wearing a medical grade mask indoors and in outdoor crowded spaces; testing all staff and students before or during the first few days of schools reopening; and strictly adhering to the revised quarantine and isolation requirements outlined in the LA County Health Officer Order issued on December 31.   Along with getting vaccinated and boosted, these are critical steps to help reduce transmission in the community and at our schools.

This week, in an effort to increase testing capacity at schools for returning students, LA County Public Health and the LA County Office of Education are working to distribute at-home test kits provided by the state for the county’s 1.4 million school aged students. Additionally, the L.A. County Home Test Collection program is offering free, at-home COVID nasal swab test kits via mail to all L.A. County residents who have experienced COVID-19 symptoms or believe they may have been exposed. These kits are free of charge and can be requested through the program’s website at covid19.lacounty.gov/hometest.

Vaccines still best protection against ICU admission and death

Although cases have increased among vaccinated people over the past few weeks, Public Health data suggests that vaccines remain extremely protective against the most severe outcomes from COVID infections.

Rate ratios are a key metric for evaluating the protection offered by vaccines. These ratios compare rates of an outcome in unvaccinated people with rates of the same outcome in fully vaccinated people; the higher the rate ratio, the more protective the vaccine is against the outcome.

• From December 15-28th, the rate ratio for ICU admission was 21.3, indicating the risk of ICU admission was 21.3 times higher among unvaccinated individuals than among fully vaccinated individuals.
• For the week of December 19-25th, the death rate in unvaccinated people was 4.5 per 100,000, but only 0.02 per 100,000 in vaccinated individuals

Of note, the rate ratio for deaths has held steady over the course of the latest surge.

Increasing the number of people who are vaccinated will help reduce the worst outcomes of COVID infections.