Which children are most vulnerable to serious Covid infection? Risk factors for intensive care admission and death among children hospitalised with Covid [Nature]

Nature Medicine first published this paper, based on unique NCMD data, which identifies the children and young people most vulnerable to serious infection with Coronavirus by examining hospitalisations and deaths in England from February 2019 to January 2021.

Which children and young people are most vulnerable to serious infection due to Coronavirus? The answer to this question could guide action to protect children from the impacts of the virus and limit its spread through the population.

In this paper we used data on hospitalisations from the first year of the pandemic to track how it affected different children differently. Looking at a total of 6,338 children and young people hospitalised with Covid-19, we found that 259 were admitted to a paediatric intensive care unit, and eight sadly died.

We found that hospitalisations were more common among males, older children and young people, those from socioeconomically deprived neighbourhoods and those who were of non-White ethnicity (Black, Asian, Mixed or Other). The odds of being admitted to intensive care with Covid-19 were increased for children with comorbidities and highest for children with multiple medical problems.