Thread by @apsmunro

Proud our new analysis of the 2nd wave (mainly Alpha) of #COVID19 in children in the UK is now available!
Headlines:

- No evidence of increased severity
- Over 30% admissions <1y
- Over 40% admissions had comorbidities
- Over 20% incidental positives

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…

1/

Compared to wave 1, the acuity was lower - less unwell on admission, and less respiratory support

There were more admissions, likely representing a higher case count and lower threshold for admission

2/

Children with no comorbidity made up 60% of admissions, and of these >40% were <1yo, likely representing our lower threshold to admit infants

Indeed, children w/o comorbidities were less unwell and required much less support

3/

Amazingly, 1 in 5 cases were incidental - likely a gross underestimate

Many sites will not report these (e.g. orthopods unlikely to submit a report if child has a broken leg)

The true rate will be much higher

Suggesting "80% admissions are for, not with COVID" is false

4/

Reassuringly only 16% of admissions required intensive care, and deaths were extremely rare even for admitted cases (0.8%)

Risk factors for ICU include older or younger age, South Asian ethnicity, higher PEWS on admission, and more comorbidities

5/

Overall, more reassuring data that:

- Alpha no more severe for children
- High rates of incidental positive tests on admission
- Children w/o comorbidities are extremely low risk
- Risk of ICU admission or death extremely low

6/

There's tonnes more to dig into in this rich data set and in the supplement too

An incredible effort led by the amazing @livvyswann to get this data out there - she deserves a medal 🏅

It was a privilege to play a small part of it, massive thanks to everyone on the team!

7/