A South African doctor is alarmed by Omicron appearing to cause more severe symptoms in children than previous variants of the coronavirus.
The variant, which has caused concern globally and led to many countries enforcing travel restrictions on southern Africa where the virus is rampant, is thought to be more transmissible than earlier variants. However, those in South Africa who are dealing with a large number of Omicron cases are reporting more mild symptoms than Delta with most patients.
Work is still underways by experts worldwide to fully understand Omicron, how infectious it is and whether our vaccines will be effective in reducing its spread and severity.
But Dr Rudo Mathivha, the head of intensive care of Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital in Johannesburg, has spoken out about the variant potentially being more dangerous to children. It comes as officials in South Africa report an increase in those under 12 being hospitalised with the virus.
"The situation is pretty concerning because this is not something that we had observed with the first, second and third wave," she told the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).
"In the past, the children used to get COVID infection and they would just treat it like any other childhood viral illness and it wouldn't really put them down, it wouldn't really send them to hospital in big number to be admitted.
"We are now seeing them coming in with moderate to severe symptoms needing supplemental oxygen, needing supportive therapy, needing to stay in hospital for quite a number of days."
Dr Mathivha said there are also many cases amongst young adults in their 20s, though they are mostly people who are unvaccinated. Those under 12 with the illness haven't yet had the option to get vaccinated.
She spoke of one incident that "really broke my heart" late last week.
"A 15-year-old previously well child, no illness, two-day history of fever, comes into the hospital, tests positive for COVID and literally deteriorates in front of our eyes and nothing, no supportive therapy that we could do could help him."
The doctor said that child died, the first local incident she is aware of where a child with no comorbidities passed from COVID. It has not been confirmed if the teen had the Omicron variant.
"If we are going to get children, toddlers coming in great numbers with significant severity of disease, this is going to be a major problem for us," she said.
"Our hospitals were not built to house a lot of children because naturally, children do not get that sick in multitude. We will not be able to accommodate them."
Dr Mathivha said she didn't say that to panic people, but to raise awareness that locals need to take the same preventative measures for children as they would with adults.
Her remarks come after Waasila Jassat, a South African government adviser, was reported to say there has been a "sharp increase" in hospital admissions amongst all age groups, but particularly children under the age of five.
"The incidence in those under five is now second-highest, second only to those over 60. The trend that we’re seeing now, that is different to what we’ve seen before, is a particular increase in hospital admissions in children under five years."
The Daily Beast reports Jassat as providing the example of the city of Tshwane Metro. There, more than 100 children under five were hospitalised with COVID in the first two weeks of the Omicron wave (in the middle of November). That's compared to fewer than 20 in the first two weeks of the country's third wave, back in May.
She said that many of the parents of the children getting sick were not vaccinated.
