NEW ORLEANS — Ochsner Hospital for Children said more and more children and teens are testing positive for COVID.
In the last five weeks, it's gone from a 4% to a 24% positivity rate among children 18-and-under.
And while the good news is that most children just get mild cases, doctors are hoping a vaccine is part of the back-to-school plan.
The number of children and teens infected with the Delta variant of the coronavirus continues to rise.
“Children now make up the most susceptible population because children under 12 are 100% not vaccinated,” said Dr. William “Billy” Lennarz, System Chair of Pediatrics, Ochsner Hospital for Children.
And this comes when school is about to begin.
“If I were a parent of a 12 to 18-year-old right now, and school was about to begin, I would be running, not walking to the closest vaccine station,” Dr. Lennarz said.
Ochsner pediatricians are recommending that children go back to the classroom and wear masks.
“In the experience we had last year school systems that did mask, at all ages were very, actually very successful in impacting very few, relatively few children,” he said.
Studies show with virtual learning last year, children have lost social skills, emotional development and learning skills.
“That is also a health crisis, so the challenge is going back into school as safely as possible,” Dr. Lennarz said.
Doctors said the pandemic is causing high stress in children.
“It's most likely that we'll see things like irritability, whining, we might also see some changes in sleep, most commonly in nightmares,” said Dr. Jill West, Section Head, Child Psychology, Department of Pediatrics at Ochsner Hospital for Children.
Vaccines will help in the classroom, not only protecting those 12-and-older but those younger who are not yet eligible to get the shot.
“Twelve to 15-year-old groups of children that were studied by Pfizer, showed 100% efficacy for serious COVID disease,” explained Dr. Katherine Baumgarten, Medical Director of Infection Control and Prevention at Ochsner Health.
The vaccine will also protect children from virus side effects.
“We at Ochsner Hospital for Children have seen many more children with myocarditis, pericarditis, many more after they have been infected by COVID than after vaccine,” Dr. Lennarz said.
And the doctors say that teens under stress may have more risk-taking and rule-breaking behavior. It is important to show them positive ways to cope.