By Ralph Ellis, WebMD News Brief
More than 117,000 cases of COVID-19 infections in children were reported last week -- a 10% increase in cases between Jan. 21 and Feb. 4, according to a report released by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association.
That’s up from the 112,000 weekly childhood infections reported in mid-November when the total number of childhood infections hit 1 million.
Overall, 2.93 million total children had tested positive, the report said, as of Feb. That number include infants, children, and teenagers in the United States who have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began about a year ago.
Children represent 12.9% of all cases in states reporting cases by age. Severe illness due to COVID-19 is rare among children, the report said.
“However, there is an urgent need to collect more data on longer-term impacts of the pandemic on children, including ways the virus may harm the long-term physical health of infected children, as well as its emotional and mental health effects,” the report said.
The new report says children made up 1.2%-2.9% of all COVID hospitalizations, with between .1%-2.3% of all child COVID-19 cases resulting in hospitalization.
Children comprised less than .26% of all COVID-19 deaths, and 11 states reported no child deaths from the virus.