In an alarming upward trend, at least 50 children were hospitalized last month due to complications of COVID-19, the Israel Pediatrics Association (IPA) reported on Sunday.
According to data, eleven children suffered from difficulty breathing and often required ventilators while 40 others suffered from life-threatening post-COVID symptoms.
Despite new virus cases being on the decline, doctors warned that hospitalizations may still go up in the coming weeks after tens of thousands of children were infected last month and some complications only appear four to six weeks after infection.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, COVID-19 has been considered mostly innocuous in children, but that seemed to change with the appearance of the Delta variant which has correlated with increased infections and severe illness among younger populations.
"COVID is often more than a mild illness," IPA Chairman Prof. Tzachi Grossman told Ynet"There are serious complications and we must do everything we can to prevent infections."
Dr. Adi Klein, who heads the pediatrics ward at the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera, said that they were receiving increasingly younger patients with severe COVID-19 complications.
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A coronavirus ward at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan at the height of the fourth wave of the pandemic
(Photo: Tal Shahar)
"We used to get mostly teens, but now we see small children too, as young as 4 and 5, who come to us in serious condition due to complications of COVID," she said. "COVID is mild in most children, but once tens of thousands of children are infected, some of them will end up developing [more severe illness]."
According to Dr. Klein, most younger patients suffer from Pediatric Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (PIMS) — a life-threatening inflammation that impacts the body's immune system.
"It impacts the heart and some of the children will have to be connected to a heart and lung machine (ECMO). The clinical indication is a high fever and abdominal pains. We've had to treat some of the kids with biological immunosuppressants that have significant side effects," she said.
"Kids often arrived in the hospital when they were already in advanced stages of the illness and in very serious condition. Their blood pressure was very low and they required life-saving treatment."
She urged parents to seek medical attention as soon as a child develops a fever soon after infection.
According to data recently published by the Education Ministry, every student that contracts coronavirus infects approximately 10% of their classmates.
Meanwhile, the coronavirus cabinet will meet on Sunday and is expected to forego isolation for students who have tested negative for coronavirus after being exposed to a confirmed patient.
First published: 11:40, 10.03.21