Rising COVID-19 hospitalizations in kids 'eye-opening and a little bit scary,' says Sask. pediatrician
CBC
A Saskatoon pediatrician doesn't want people to lose sight of the impact COVID-19 is having on children.
Data presented at last week's Saskatchewan Health Authority physician town hall confirmed there were 17 kids in the province hospitalized with the virus — the most since the start of the pandemic.
"It was just a little bit eye-opening and a little bit scary," Dr. Ayisha Kurji said in an interview on Saskatoon Morning Monday.
"It tells me that it's important to keep track of this."
Most of the time, she said, COVID-19 behaves like other respiratory viruses, meaning hospitalized kids may need support from oxygen or IV fluids. However, some need to be under intensive care to assist their breathing.
Kurji noted that three kids under 12 with COVID-19 have died in the province. Those deaths are reflected in the 19 and under age category on the province's website.
"My thoughts are with those families. It's just devastating to lose a child, ever, from anything," she said.
Kurji noted the highest risk group are those ages zero to four, followed by teenagers aged 12 to 17. Kids five to 11 tend to fare better with the illness, she said.
"Babies are prone to end up in the hospital with a respiratory illness," Kurji added. "They're just little and don't tolerate being sick as well as the older kids do."
She said it's especially concerning when teenagers contract COVID-19, because the virus acts similar to the way it does in adults.
"Throughout the pandemic, we've kind of said, 'Oh, kids are fine, kids are fine. They don't do badly with COVID' — which is true — but as our numbers go up, more kids are going to be affected," she said.
Since school started this fall, COVID-19 numbers have gone up in children, Kurji pointed out.
She said about 16 per cent of cases in kids last year stemmed from school transmission. This year, that number sits around 23 per cent.
Still, Kurji said, the "vast majority" of children are contracting the virus at home or in community settings, such as extracurricular activities.
This story is a collaboration between the Investigative Journalism Foundation and CBC Saskatchewan.
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