Covid-19 is a leading cause of death for children in the US, despite relatively low mortality rate - CNN

CNN  — 

Covid-19 has go the eighth astir communal origin of decease among children successful the United States, according to a survey published Monday.

Children are importantly little apt to dice from Covid-19 than immoderate different property radical – little than 1% of each deaths since the commencement of the pandemic person been among those younger than 18, according to national data.

But it’s uncommon for children to dice for immoderate reason, the researchers wrote, truthful the load of Covid-19 is champion understood successful the discourse of different pediatric deaths.

In 2019, the latest pre-pandemic year, the starring causes of decease among children and young adults ages 0 to 19 included perinatal conditions, unintentional injuries, congenital malformations oregon deformations, assault, suicide, malignant neoplasms, diseases of the bosom and influenza and pneumonia.

The researchers’ investigation of information from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recovered that determination were 821 Covid-19 deaths successful this property radical during a 12-month play from August 2021 to July 2022. That decease complaint – astir 1 for each 100,000 children ages 0 to 19 – ranks eighth compared with the 2019 data. It ranks 5th among adolescents ages 15 to 19.

Covid-19 deaths displace influenza and pneumonia, becoming the apical origin of decease caused by immoderate infectious oregon respiratory disease. It caused “substantially” much deaths than immoderate vaccine-preventable illness historically, the researchers wrote.

According to CDC data, children are little vaccinated than immoderate different property radical successful the US. Less than 10% of eligible children person gotten their updated booster shot, and much than 90% of children nether 5 are wholly unvaccinated.

The findings of the caller study, published successful JAMA Network Open, whitethorn underestimate the mortality load of Covid-19 due to the fact that the investigation focuses connected deaths wherever Covid-19 was an underlying origin of decease but not those wherever it whitethorn person been a contributing factor, the researchers wrote. Also, different analyses of excess deaths suggest that Covid-19 deaths person been underreported.

As Covid-19 continues to dispersed successful the US, the researchers accidental that involution methods specified arsenic vaccination and ventilation volition “continue to play an important relation successful limiting transmission of the microorganism and mitigating terrible disease.”