Delta strain and kids: What you need to know

The Delta strain spreads faster among kids — but experts have explained why it does not cause more severe disease.

The Delta strain does not cause more severe disease in children but because it spreads faster, the number of children who will develop severe disease and go to hospital will be greater an expert analysis shows.

A new report from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute reports Covid-19 in children and adolescents is rarely severe, and very rarely causes death and presents in a similar way to the common cold.

To date only 70 Australian children with Covid (2.4 per cent) have been admitted to hospital and just five (0.2 per cent) were admitted to intensive care.

There have been no deaths in children, the institute said.

However, it warns “children and adolescents living with pre-existing health conditions, disadvantage, low socio-economic or minority ethnic status have a greater risk of severe disease from Covid-19”.

Clinical trials of vaccines for younger children are still underway.

“After 10 months of circulating globally, the Delta strain does not appear to cause more serious disease than previous variants,” the institute said.

“This means we would expect the proportion of children and adolescents that will develop serious illness will be the same as previous variants.”

As some states prepared to ease restrictions when 70 and 80 per cent of the population aged 16 and over is fully vaccinated children who have not been jabbed will be at risk from the virus.

Vaccines are now available to those aged over 12 but clinical trials of vaccines for younger children are still underway and none have been approved for use in developed countries.

Covid-19 has been associated with severe complications in children. Picture: Getty

As of last week 22 per cent of all COVID-19 cases in Australia have been among children aged less than 19 years.

But as vaccination rates among adults rise protecting them from the disease the proportion of cases occurring in children is rising.

“Although the proportion of them having severe disease remains the same, the number of children infected will be higher, so therefore the number of children who will develop severe disease will be higher too,” the report said.

During the most recent outbreaks between 16 June and 19 August 2021 2,864 of the Covid-19 cases were in those aged under 19 years (27 per cent of all cases), the institute said.

High school aged children who were 13-18 years old were the most likely to contract Covid, there were 1,109 cases in this age group representing 39 per cent of all cases in children, the institute said.

Primary school aged children the 6-12 year olds represented a third (33 per cent) of all infections.

Those aged under 5 made up 28 per cent of infections in children.

Covid-19 has been associated with a severe complication called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) but there have been only four confirmed cases and two other possible cases reported since the pandemic started last year.

Almost all children with MIS-C have recovered fully, and the long-term outcomes appear good, with resolution of the inflammation of the heart, the institute said.

A study in Melbourne in 2020 (pre-Delta) observed no cases of long Covid-19 among 136 children who presented to the Royal Children’s Hospital, the report said.

However, most of these children were younger, around 3 years or age.

“There is no agreed definition of long Covid-19, which makes it difficult to be certain about how common, severe or persistent it is,” the report said.

Persistent symptoms reported following COVID-19 among children and adolescents include fatigue, headache, anosmia, and sore throat.

“Some studies have found that children who tested negative for COVID-19 have had similar symptoms, which are common after other viral infections, and could also be due to the experience of lockdown and other social restrictions,” the report said.

The pandemic is having significant effects on the mental health of children including been substantial increases in admissions to paediatric hospitals for mental health, substance use, self-harm and suicide attempts, the study notes.

“Prolonged school closures and lockdowns exacerbate these impacts, differentially affecting those living with disadvantage, diminishing social mobility and impacting economic productivity,” the report said.

Originally published as Delta strain and kids: What you need to know