Does Omicron affect children more and differently than previous variants? Hard to determine at the moment. Differently, this is what the medical director of the Saint-Augustin hospital, near Bonn, in Germany, suggests. “You see that infected children often have gastrointestinal upset, or general illness. They look like they’ve had blood poisoning, like sepsis. […] Indeed the most serious respiratory diseases, such as we could see during the first wave, no longer exist”, can we read on Euro news website, which takes up the words of Gerd Horneff. “I did not notice anything in particular, no new symptoms compared to the other variants”, contradicts Romain Basmaci, secretary general of the French Society of Pediatrics. As for the question of more, the doctor, contacted by L’Express, agrees “that there are a few more children hospitalized, but few serious forms”.
More hospitalizations among children
In mid-January, 552 children under the age of 10 were hospitalized in France, diagnosed positive for Covid-19. According to the latest data from Public Health France, the figure was similar in early February. Even if it remains modest, it is a record since the start of the pandemic. Two reasons explain this. The first: the Omicron variant is “more contagious in adults as in children. There are more positive children, therefore more hospitalized. It’s the same logic for adults. There is no overflows however”, notes the pediatrician of the Louis-Mourier hospital, in Colombes, who calls to “stay vigilant”. The second: only 3% of 5-11 year olds are currently vaccinated.
It is also difficult to attribute all hospitalizations to the single Omicron variant. At AFP, Public Health France pointed out that the identification of cases “co-infected” with the respiratory syncytial virus (responsible for bronchiolitis) and Covid-19 “can make it difficult to attribute the severity to one or the other of the viruses”. According to the health authority, the analysis of pediatric cases “is not in favor of an increased severity” of Covid-19 “in children, to date”. Moreover, “it is still too early to anticipate what the impact of the Omicron variant will be”.
More anxiety and depression
For Romain Basmaci, on the other hand, the general impact of the pandemic is already palpable on the mental health of the youngest. “It’s been major for a year and a half. We see a lot more cases of depression, anxiety, suicide attempts,” points out the pediatrician. In its last opinion issued on January 19 last, the Scientific Council wrote that “the number of visits to the emergency room for suicidal gestures for children under 15 remains generally high compared to the two previous years, the same for mood disorders (depressive syndromes)”. The sequence of confinements, deconfinements, various and multiple restrictions causes “instability which is extremely heavy for the youngest, and which increases inequalities. We must ensure that children maintain a stable living environment, a school environment , leisure. That they maintain a balance as normal as possible”, adds the secretary general of the French Society of Pediatrics.
Small step in this direction, while waiting for better: the Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer opened the way on Sunday to a relaxation of the protocol at school.