COVID-19 is Leading Cause of Child Deaths Despite Low Mortality Rate, Study Finds

COVID-19 was found to be a leading cause of death among children despite having a relatively low mortality rate. The coronavirus was observed to be the underlying cause of death for more than 940,000 people in the United States.

This includes 1,300 deaths among children and young people aged 19 years and below. It has, until now, been a mystery how the burden of deaths from the disease compared with other leading causes of death in the same age group.

COVID-19 is a Leading Cause of Child Deaths

Researchers at the University of Oxford's Department of Computer Science conducted a study that investigated this using data from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) databases. The team published the results of their research in the journal JAMA Network Open.

Key findings of the study period from Aug. 1, 2021, to July 31, 2022, include COVID-19 ranking eighth among causes of death for children and young people aged 19 and younger. It was also found to be fifth among all disease-related causes of death and first in deaths caused by infectious or respiratory diseases, as per News Medical.

The team also found the coronavirus to be the cause of 2% of deaths in children and young people. It had an overall death rate of 1.0 per 100,000 of the population aged 19 and below. This was dwarfed by the leading cause, perinatal conditions, which had an overall death rate of 12.7 per 100,000. However, COVID-19 ranked ahead of both influenza and pneumonia, which combined only to have a 0.6 per 100,000 death rate.

Similar to other diseases, the researchers found that COVID-19 deaths followed a U-shaped pattern across the age group. The numbers were the highest in infants younger than one year, with a rate of 4.3 per 100,000, second highest in those aged 15 to 19, with a rate of 1.8 per 100,000; and lowest among kids aged five to nine, with a rate of 0.4 per 100,000.

The team also discovered that COVID-19 deaths among children and young people were higher when the Delta and Omicron variants were the dominant strains. This likely reflects the higher number of infected people during these waves.

Relatively Low Mortality Rate

While the coronavirus is known to amplify the impacts of other diseases, such as influenza and pneumonia, the team focused their study on deaths directly caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, according to Eureka Alert.

Despite these numbers, when compared to other age groups, the team found a substantially lower overall risk of death from COVID-19 in children and young people. The researchers suggest that the results show that public health measures, such as vaccinations, staying home, and ventilation, play an essential role in reducing disease transmission and mitigating severe illness among the younger population.

The chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases, Dr. Sean O'Leary, said that pediatric deaths are rare. He added that it was something that the team did not expect to happen but noted that it was uniquely tragic, said CNN.