As COVID-19 cases swell in Michigan, pediatric hospitalizations are also on the rise, several physicians told the Detroit Free Press.
Nationwide, younger people who haven't been vaccinated are increasingly accounting for more COVID-19 cases. As Michigan records its highest daily COVID-19 case count April 13, along with the highest weekly case rate in the U.S., its pediatric hospitalizations are also subsequently rising.
Seven things to know:
1. Cases among kids ages 10 to 19 are at an all-time high, quadrupling from four weeks earlier, Sarah Lyon-Callo, PhD, the state's top epidemiologist, said last week.
2. Statewide, 45 children were hospitalized April 13 with either confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases.
3. "The state is at a record high for hospitalizations for pediatrics during the entire pandemic and our hospital reflects that," said Rudolph Valentini, MD, a pediatric nephrologist at Detroit-based Children's Hospital of Michigan and group chief medical officer for the Detroit Medical Center.
4. Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Helen DeVos Children's Hospital is also reporting an increase in pediatric COVID-19 hospitalizations, though the majority of cases are detected when screened at admission for other medical reasons, said Rosemary Olivero, MD, a pediatric infectious diseases physician at the hospital.
5. This week, the state reported 312 ongoing or new COVID-19 outbreaks tied to classrooms, after-school activities and sports. On April 9, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer urged schools to offer remote education, youth sports to pause and people to avoid eating indoors at restaurants, all for two weeks. She emphasized that it is a request, not a mandate.
6. State officials also have reported at least 99 cases of the pediatric condition tied to COVID-19, known as multisystem inflammatory syndrome-children. Since the pandemic began, the CDC has reported 3,185 MIS-C cases nationally and 36 deaths.
7. In total, 10.7 percent of 16- to 19-year-olds in Michigan have been vaccinated, state data shows.