Explained: Does Omicron pose higher risks for infants than other variants?

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Explained: Does Omicron pose higher risks for infants than other variants? South Africa Data from an area in South Africa hard-hit by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has shown a high number of hospital admissions of infants under 2 years old, raising concerns that the variant may pose risks to young children. South African scientists have said they cannot yet confirm a link between Omicron and the high admissions of infants, which could be due to other factors. Here is what we do and do not know about the issue. WHAT IS CAUSING CONCERN? The data, released by South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), shows that 52 infants under age 2 were among 452 COVID-19 patients admitted in Tshwane - the metropolitan area that includes the capital Pretoria - in the period between Nov. 14 and 28, a higher number than for any other age group. However, taking into account the size of the populations of the various age groups, the risk of admission was higher for people over age 60. HAVE THE ADMISSIONS BEEN LINKED TO OMICRON? No. Only a small percentage of positive test samples in South Africa are being submitted for genomic sequencing to detect the variant due to limited capacity. That means we cannot know for sure whether the infants in hospital were infected with Omicron, NICD scientists have said.

Data from an area in South Africa hard-hit by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has shown a high number of hospital admissions of infants under 2 years old, raising concerns that the variant may pose risks to young children.

South African scientists have said they cannot yet confirm a link between Omicron and the high admissions of infants, which could be due to other factors. Here is what we do and do not know about the issue.

WHAT IS CAUSING CONCERN?

The data, released by South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), shows that 52 infants under age 2 were among 452 COVID-19 patients admitted in Tshwane – the metropolitan area that includes the capital Pretoria – in the period between Nov. 14 and 28, a higher number than for any other age group.

However, taking into account the size of the populations of the various age groups, the risk of admission was higher for people over age 60.

HAVE THE ADMISSIONS BEEN LINKED TO OMICRON?

No. Only a small percentage of positive test samples in South Africa are being submitted for genomic sequencing to detect the variant due to limited capacity. That means we cannot know for sure whether the infants in hospital were infected with Omicron, NICD scientists have said.

South Africa

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