567 under 5's admitted to hospital in the UK in the last five days

@growstuff: I do believe you could start a fight in an empty room. And still accuse someone else of being rude. Do you never consider how your own posts offend?

Calistemon

^In that age group its probably peak time for bronchiolitis & the like.^
The virus which causes bronchiolitis (the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)) has been a big problem too, especially in New Zealand.

Bronchiolitis is more common than most people realise. My son, aged 6 months, was very poorly in hospital 30 odd years ago and he needed oxygen to help him breath. The ward he was on was full of babies and young children all with lung and breathing problems. At the time, it was blamed on the smogs that hung over Manchester,

GrannyLaine

@growstuff: I do believe you could start a fight in an empty room. And still accuse someone else of being rude. Do you never consider how your own posts offend?

Do you?

At the time, it was blamed on the smogs that hung over Manchester,
It was never mentioned by the locum GP that it was a virus, Teacheranne. We lived on the edge of the countryside in Devon (no smog!).
He gave me a bottle of Ventolin syrup and told me to sit with her in a steamy bathroom.

I have found one source for this news. It doesn't actually say that the 576 children were all under 5. This is what it does say -
"Some 157 children were admitted on the Bank Holiday Monday, 110 of whom were aged 5 or younger.
The figure surpasses the previous record on 145 admissions on 28 December.
In the last seven days, a total of 567 children have been admitted to hospital with COVID.
uk.news.yahoo.com/covid-record-number-of-children-admitted-to-hospital-in-a-single-day-174113687.html

I found a Sky News report and it says:

It is unclear whether the cases are incidental or if any of the individuals are in a serious condition.

The definition used to identify a hospital admission with COVID is that someone either tested positive for the virus in the 14 days before their admission or during their stay in hospital.

It could mean that someone goes into hospital for a non-COVID reason, and subsequently tests positive.

news.sky.com/story/covid-more-than-500-children-admitted-to-hospital-with-coronavirus-in-england-in-week-to-boxing-day-12505306

I do believe the media is guilty of throwing numbers around without context. Others here are correct in saying that there is nothing to compare that number to. Are the children being admitted because of covid, or with covid? Is the rise in children in hospital because of the higher total volume of cases, or is the increase due to a rise in severity?

Are the symptoms sever? I know it is worrying, and we have grandchildren under 5 so are concerned about the possibility of severe illness in children.

When did pregnant women start getting vaccinated?
Around May last year? So from about now onwards most newborns will have received protection from the vaccinated mother while in the womb. I know that doesn't help any child aged 1 month plus, but hopefully it bodes well for tiny newborns over the coming winter months and beyond.

The link you've posted is the one in the original post Elegran. The quote below is also taken from that article where she quotes 570 under 5's.

Professor Deepti Gurdasani, a senior lecturer and epidemiologist at Queen Mary University of London, wrote on Twitter: "I really can't understand the lack of attention and discussion of this.

"This is huge.

"Shouldn't there be urgent focus on trying to understand what's going on here?"

"570 0-5 year-olds being hospitalised with COVID-19 [in just a week] and rapidly rising isn't ok."

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202201/medium-331497-stats.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202201/medium-807465-0-to-5-covid-admissions.jpg

This is a graph showing the latest admissions for 0-5 year olds in England. I don't know what's going on, nor whether the children were admitted primarily as a result of Covid, but it's quite clear there's been a sharp increase.

It's also clear from the government dashboard that there's been a trend since before Christmas of high positivity rates and admissions in very young children. The explanatory note says that the positivity rates are those tested in households, not acquired in hospital.

PS. These are Covid admissions, not some other respiratory condition.

The two figures doesn't add up, Gagajo.

Two statements -
6th January "In the last seven days, a total of 567 children have been admitted to hospital with COVID." Yahoo news, and -

Undated but only mentioned on Yahoo news on 6th January ""570 0-5 year-olds being hospitalised with COVID-19 [in just a week] and rapidly rising isn't ok."" by Professor Deepti Gurdasani

I am not arguing against it is disturbibg that such young children seem to be catching it, but that the figures in that news article are confusing.

It seems that the number of small children with the disease has increased dramatically since the family get-togethers over the Christmas/New Year holidays. It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to come up with a theory of why that could be.

Sorry, growstuff I've just seen your post. The trend seems to have started before Christmas so family cuddles may not explain all of it.

When did the schools close? (I have no small GC any more, so I don't unfamiliar with term dates) Does the increase correlate with schools and nurseries closing for the holiday, and siblings who would have been in separate classrooms and nurseries most of the day during termtime, with professional precautions being taken, were now mixed together in the home and passing it to one another?

Found out this morning on the school run (walk, amble) that DGS's little friend's parents didn't ever bother testing their children while they were isolating before Christmas with covid. The only day one of their children was off school was when he had a fever. The rest of the time, DGM took them both to school. Mum was very matter of fact about this. Total non issue to her.

So there are children in school in all likelihood with covid, and parents that are quite aware of this and just not isolating them.

I kept DGS off school before Christmas when I found out this friends parents were positive, but children were in school. This very mother was the one who asked if I would take her children to school while they were isolating, knowing that I'm in an at risk group!

No point at all primary / nursery teachers trying to take precautions when there are parents as selfish as this around.

The way things are going then implies there's no point vaccinating the younger ones say from tomorrow, because nearly all of them will have had covid before the vaccine fully takes effect.

Ridiculous isn’t it. Christmas week, mY son in law’s LFT was positive as was the subsequent PCR test. My daughter phoned school to tell them about the lft and that she’d keep the children home. The head said the guidance was the children should be in school but she wouldn’t mark it as unauthorised absence.
In contrast, the primary school other grandchildren attend sent a letter to all parents, the week before they closed for Christmas. It explained government guidance but the head understood many families would be seeing vulnerable grandparents over Christmas and children who didn’t attend the 3 days of school left before the Christmas holiday, wouldn’t be marked as unofficially absent

My step daughter doesn’t believe in LFTs so she will probably send her child to school with a cold , which could well be covid

Ridiculous isn’t it. Christmas week, mY son in law’s LFT was positive as was the subsequent PCR test. My daughter phoned school to tell them about the lft and that she’d keep the children home. The head said the guidance was the children should be in school but she wouldn’t mark it as unauthorised absence.
My youngest DGC caught Covid before October half-term and most of her class were off with it or isolating. No-one in the family caught it from her but they got it a couple of weeks before Christmas. She was allowed back to school for Christmas week as her PCR test was negative and she had had it weeks previously.
Why did they not catch it from her, despite cuddles, but caught it randomly from an unknown source?

Who knows Calistemon? It’s not difficult to see why conspiracy theories grow, or some refuse to accept its serious. One of my daughters remains covid free despite being with a group some weeks ago, most of whom tested positive. She works with people, many have been positive but so far, she’s clear. She is careful as we can be but if you’re working, surrounded by others, there’s a risk. She wonders why some of us are more suseptable. Starmer has it for the 3rd time

Just listening to BBC news. Item about school children who refuse to wear masks or take tests, sometimes backed up by parents. Interview with teacher from school not far from me confirming it and saying there was basically nothing they could do.

Just like the above, my DGD caught covid in November, she is very particular about cleanliness and hand washing. Her younger brother who is a typical grubby boy, less healthy and with a platelet problem, did not catch it from her and he continued to attend school. My DD who is a secondary school teacher has never caught it despite many children in the school plus her immediate colleagues having it. She tests three times a week. It doesn't make sense.

I would hope that all their other inoculations are up to date ! Including an annual nasal 'flu programme that children get now.

I am wondering whether there has been a decline in the number of 0-5 years admitted to hospital as a result of covid? We might have expected the number to have risen again as children return to Nursery after the Christmas break, but today I heard a different story. I have been asked to help out at a special event in the Kindergarten at the end of this week and had a long chat with the Head today. Apparently all the under 5s are back in class, most of them having already had covid at the end of last month. For a couple of days at the end of last term she only had 9 pupils present out of 60 on the roll!
Hopefully this means that the peak in admissions in this age group has now passed.
growstuff might be able to confirm with an updated graph as we are now a good few weeks on?

Why doesnt the uk vaccinate children anyway. It would solve many problems with school absences/closures.

My whole family now has had/currently has covid except me. I also work in a school.

My daughter has covid for the second time in 4 months.