Delta variant sparks a wave of COVID infections in children as Stanislaus schools open
More children are contracting COVID-19 since the highly contagious delta variant took over in California, an analysis of state data shows.
The number of children and adolescents who tested positive nearly tripled the second half of July compared to the first two weeks last month. The jump in pediatric cases is troubling as schools reopen for in-person learning.
Between July 1 and July 14, the state reported 4,835 new cases in the zero to 17 age group. The count was 13,757 new cases in children and adolescents between July 15 and July 28.
The state data was crunched by George Lemp, an infectious disease epidemiologist and former director of the University of California HIV/AIDS Research Program.
Lemp said Monday that California has reeled from a stunning increase in COVID-19 cases since the state reopened June 15, driven largely by infections in young adults age 18 to 34. But alarming increases are also seen in children and adolescents, who were previously considered less affected by the original SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The delta variant arrived at about the same time the state reopened its economy in June and now is responsible for 80 to 90 percent of cases in California.
“It’s unfortunate that these factors collided to result in a dramatic increase in COVID-19 in California this summer,” Lemp said.
The rise in cases affecting children is reflected nationally. Those cases were flat in April through June before they escalated in July, according to a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
There were 110,000 new cases in children and adolescents the last two weeks in July, up from 43,000 the first half of last month, according to the report co-authored by the Children’s Hospital Association.
In California, the new cases among children and adolescents under 18 in late July were an increase of 421% over cases reported in early June. Young adults in the 18 to 34 age group saw the biggest increase — 554%.
It’s a concern because young adults and adolescents age 12 to 17 have lower vaccine coverage, and children younger than 12 are not eligible for the protection offered by coronavirus vaccines.
In Stanislaus County, 24.7 percent of young people age 12 to 17 are fully vaccinated and 11.3 percent are partly vaccinated. The full and partial vaccination rate has ranged around 50 percent for adults 18 to 49.
The Stanislaus County Health Services Agency recently disclosed that 193 children age 11 or younger tested positive in July and there were 159 confirmed cases in adolescents 12 to 17.
Lemp said there were five deaths among children in California in July after the state recorded 23 deaths in children from March 2020 through June 2021.
Safety measures at local schools
School districts such as Modesto City Schools and Turlock Unified stressed they are following state health guidelines that require students and teachers to wear masks inside classrooms and school buildings, in addition to other precautions.
When told about the statewide spike in cases, Modesto City Schools released a statement Tuesday, assuring its schools have comprehensive health and safety protocols in place.
“We are committed to doing our part to protect our students, teachers and staff. This includes requirements for all individuals (adults and children) to wear masks whenever they are indoors, increased ventilation and air filtration, regular cleaning and disinfection and more,” the district said.
The Modesto school district next week is resuming a COVID data dashboard for disclosing cases among students and staff that are reported.
Turlock Unified has decided not to ask the state for local control over its own COVID safety measures.
The delta infections are surging in California as other states report sharp increases and more young people are treated in pediatric hospitals. But the severity of the delta variant on children is not fully known.
Dr. Dean Blumberg, chief of pediatric infectious disease at UC Davis Children’s Hospital, said the hospital has seen an influx of young patients with COVID-19 that started two or three weeks ago.
The hospital has COVID-infected children in intensive care, with some requiring intubation and placement on a ventilator. But many cases are children needing outpatient care, Blumberg said. He noted the children’s hospital had more COVID admissions during the surge in December and January.
Blumberg said it appears the delta variant causes illness that’s 20 percent more severe than with previous strains, though the severity data is not entirely clear.
With the delta variant, the case numbers are skewing to younger people because they are susceptible to infection, Blumberg said. There is no approved vaccine for young children, and many teenagers and young adults are not vaccinated against COVID-19.
“Younger people often feel they are invulnerable,” Blumberg said. “They don’t think they will get severe disease or it will just be like a cold.”
Blumberg said vaccination is the most important measure for slowing the delta variant. He said masking is the second most important precaution.
Blumberg hopes that schools have masking policies and steps for screening kids for symptoms. Parents should watch for COVID symptoms, including a fever, cough, runny nose, fatigue, headache and loss of taste and smell, and not send their kids to school if they’re sick.
“We have a strain circulating that is twice as infectious as the previous strain, so it makes it twice as important to protect vulnerable people and keep them from being infected,” Blumberg said.
Modesto parent says ‘it’s very stressful’
Christina Hall of Modesto said she rushed her 7-year-old son to the hospital last week, where tests pretty quickly determined he was COVID-positive. The special needs child was transferred and spent four days at Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento.
A week ago, Hall thought her son, Liam, had allergies. She discovered the boy had a temperature of 101.5 and, the next morning, he was coughing with a temperature of 102.
Hall said Tylenol and Motrin were not effective in reducing the fevers in the hospital, but fortunately Liam did not need oxygen and he returned home Monday. “He is still fighting it off,” said Hall, who also has a COVID-positive friend on a ventilator in a Modesto hospital. “It is extremely scary. There are times when (Liam) coughs and it seems like he is struggling. It’s very stressful.”
Hall, who is vaccinated, said she was told by hospital staff her son could have caught the highly contagious virus almost anywhere.
The American Academy of Pediatrics said it appears severe illness from COVID-19 is not overly common in children. But the academy says more studies on the long-term effects on children is urgently needed.
The AAP recommends in-person learning for schoolchildren, but advises schools to “take all necessary measures” to limit the spread of the coronavirus, including face masks for staff and students older than 2 years old.
This story was originally published August 11, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
