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Maine hospitals see increase of children with COVID


Of the 146,000 known positive tests for COVID in Maine, more than a quarter of them involve infants, children and teens. (WGME)
Of the 146,000 known positive tests for COVID in Maine, more than a quarter of them involve infants, children and teens. (WGME)
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PORTLAND (WGME) – Of the 146,000 known positive tests for COVID in Maine, more than a quarter of them involve infants, children and teens.

Younger people generally experience milder symptoms, but over the last few weeks, doctors say they're seeing an increase in the number of kids hospitalized for COVID.

"We've got kids that are sick,” MaineHealth Interim Chief Medical Officer Dr. Doug Sawyer said. “And this is different than the beginning of the pandemic."

So far, 89 Maine children and teens have been hospitalized for COVID, but doctors say with the omicron variant spreading, they're now seeing more kids hospitalized with COVID.

"Any given day at Maine Medical Center, there's five to 10 kids with COVID in the hospital,” Sawyer said. “Hard on kids, hard on their families."

Sarah Klein wants to make sure her sons stay healthy, so Friday they got booster shots.

"It's an important step for us to protect them,” Klein said. “But also to protect other people. I don't want to spread this to other people. With the new variant and them being in school, I think it's really important that the kids get vaccinated."

"One of the things we know about omicron is that it tends to affect more of the larger airways and the upper airways, as opposed to the delta variant, which was really impactful in the lower lungs and the lower airways,” Central Maine Healthcare Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Alexander said. “Children, in general, have a larger effect associated with any upper airway infection, simply because they're anatomy is smaller. It can affect those children more so."

The Maine CDC reported five children hospitalized with COVID Friday.

Doctors at Maine Medical Center say kids in their pediatric ICU are struggling to breathe.

"This omicron variant is particularly affecting our youngsters, and that's been hard, both for families, but also in the hospital,” Sawyer said. “We're seeing kids sick with pretty severe COVID respiratory disease."

It’s unknown how many of those hospitalized children are unvaccinated, but according to the CDC, the unvaccinated are 11 times more likely to be hospitalized.

"Getting the vaccine makes a big difference, and that includes children ages 5 to 11," Alexander said.

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