Infants and Young Children Hospitalized with COVID-19 over the Course of the Pandemic in the U.S.

COVID-19 has been diagnosed in >12 million U.S. children since the pandemic's inception, and these children currently account for 19% of all cases (https://www.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/children-and-covid-19-state-level-data-report/). Rates of pediatric hospitalization have also risen. Now, the COVID NET surveillance team (with a catchment area comprising 10% of the U.S. population) has conducted a detailed analysis of COVID-19 hospitalization rates for children from March 2020 through February 2022.

Hospitalization rates for children aged 0–4 years (i.e., ineligible for vaccination) with COVID-19 during Omicron predominance were five times higher than during Delta predominance (14.5 vs. 2.9 per 100,000). Th…