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The recent wave of coronavirus ravaging the United States, most driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant, has resulted in an alarming increase in hospitalizations among children, let alone growing concern among parents across the country.

Some states have reported a nearly 50 percent increase in pediatric admissions for Covid-19 in December. New York City experienced the most dramatic rise, with 68 children hospitalized last week, a fourfold increase from two weeks ago.

But while experts have expressed concern about a marked increase in hospitalizations — an increase of more than twice that in adults — doctors and researchers said they saw no evidence that Omicron poses any greater threat to children.

In fact, preliminary data show that, compared with the Delta variant, Omicron causes milder disease in children, similar to early findings for adults.

A researcher at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Dr. “The important story to tell here is that the severity is very low and the risk of serious serious illness is lower,” said David Rubin.

Instead, he said, much of the increase in pediatric admissions was due to the large number of children infected with both Delta and the more contagious Omicron variant, and lower vaccination rates among children over age 5.

Younger children are not yet eligible for the vaccine, and only those aged 16 and over are eligible for booster vaccines, which offer the most effective shield against infection and hospitalization.

The result is that children overall are slightly less protected from the virus than adults. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, approximately 199,000 childhood cases were reported nationally in the week ending December 23; this is a 50 percent increase from the beginning of December.

According to the Academy, about one in 10 American children has tested positive for the virus since the start of the pandemic.

Infected children are much less likely to get sick compared to adults. However, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, an average of 1,200 children were hospitalized each day across the country last week, with more than 800 hospitalized at the end of November due to the coronavirus. (Some of these children came to the hospital with other medical problems.)

These numbers are well below the peaks reached last September, but experts fear a wave of pediatric hospitalizations in the coming weeks due to the spread of Omicron, holiday gatherings and a return to classes after January 1.

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital chief of staff Dr. “We’re just holding our breath and preparing for a tsunami impact,” said Patricia Manning.

In interviews, hospital leaders and intensive care doctors said that almost all children hospitalized with Covid had one thing in common: They were unvaccinated or under-vaccinated.

Chief of pediatric intensive care at Cohen’s, Dr. “What we’re seeing in our ICU makes it clear that vaccination is the most important thing you can do to protect your child from contracting this virus,” said James Schneider. The Children’s Medical Center in New York, serving nearly two dozen hospitals in the Northwell Health system.

Dr. In recent days, five to eight children with Covid have been in the intensive care unit, compared to none or one in November, Schneider said.

It remains unclear to what extent the Omicron variant is responsible for the increased hospital admissions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday significantly lowered its estimates of the prevalence of Omicron from 73 percent of all Covid cases to 59 percent in the week ended December 18.

More recent data suggest that Omicron is much more common in some states, particularly the Northeast. In Connecticut, for example, the variant is responsible for more than 80 percent of new cases. This figure is 90 percent in New York.

Also complicating the picture: Alarming hospitalization numbers can be misleading because they can sometimes cover all children who test positive for coronavirus after admission.

Some hospitals nationwide have reported positive rates of up to 20 percent among children. However, officials say the vast majority are asymptomatic and come to the hospital with other health problems.

Dr. Rubin said real-time data he analyzed as principal investigator with PolicyLab Covid-19. prediction modelIn Omicron-dominated southwestern Pennsylvania, the rate of pediatric admissions requiring intensive care has halved since the beginning of the fall and continues to decline last month.

And the rate of pediatric Covid admissions across much of the country is still below the peak of what’s typically seen in seasonal flu, he added.

He said part of the recent increase is due to delays in seeking medical care for children, with a resurgence of infections and the spread of winter-season viruses that can complicate the health of medically vulnerable children and lead to hospitalizations.

Dr. “While we are certainly seeing more transmission between vaccinated and unvaccinated children, I think we need to be very careful to avoid sending the message that Omicron poses an unusual risk to children,” said Rubin.

Even though the risk of children getting seriously ill is low, medical experts warn that the coronavirus can have serious consequences in rare cases: 790 Americans The under-18s have died since the pandemic began.

And despite cautious optimism that the Omicron variant will be less dangerous to children than its predecessors, experts admit it’s still too early to know for sure.

A pediatrician at Boston Children’s Hospital, which has yet to see a significant increase in Covid-19 applications, Dr. “There are so many warnings,” Rick Malley said.

He said he expects more information about the length of hospital stays and whether younger patients need oxygen or intubation. Dr. “It’s too early to predict what will happen to Omicron because this virus has taken us by surprise over and over,” Malley said.

But one thing is indisputable: Omicron’s uncanny ability to spread between human hosts, even those that are fully vaccinated. At Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, nearly a quarter of all children admitted in recent days tested positive, up from 5 percent during the height of the Delta surge last summer. The hospital’s chief pathologist, Dr. According to James Versalovic, Omicron accounts for more than 90 percent of these infections.

But he said so far, the crushing of infections has not led to a huge jump in the number of children who need to be hospitalized for Covid – about 50 in recent days, down from a peak of 65 a few months ago.

Although tired of surviving the previous three waves, Dr. Versalovic had some hope that advances in the treatment of seriously ill patients and an increase in vaccines would protect most children from dire consequences.

“Of course I’m worried, but I’m also optimistic that we can reduce the impact of Omicron,” he said.