This is interesting:
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The CDC also said the surge could be partially attributable to how COVID-19 hospitalizations in this age group are defined: a positive virus test within 14 days of hospitalization for any reason.
āThe severity of illness among children during the omicron wave seems lower than it was with the delta variant, said Seattle Childrenās Hospital critical care chief Dr. John McGuire.
āMost of the COVID+ kids in the hospital are actually not here for COVID-19 disease,ā McGuire said in an email. āThey are here for other issues but happen to have tested positive.ā
I believe Fauci has made similar statements.
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Not downplaying the concern but. Yes, more children are in the hospital and testing positive for Covid but not all are admitted because of Covid. The difference between those things is important.
Also from the data, a positive test within 14 days of hospitalization is included in those being counted.
"At a briefing, Walensky said the numbers include children hospitalized because of COVID-19 and those admitted for other reasons but found to have coronavirus infections.
The CDC also said the surge could be partially attributable to how COVID-19 hospitalizations in this age group are defined: a positive virus test within 14 days of hospitalization for any reason."
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Absolutely the case that many of the Covid-positive kids are not admitted because of Covid. However, having Covid is not good for your health or for kidsā health.
I have not read these studies, but I wonder if kids who were admitted because of some other cause but have Covid have a lower risk of diabetes than kids who were admitted because of Covid.
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There is another nuance: if someone is admitted for something else and found to have incidental COVID-19, but then the incidental COVID-19 became serious enough to keep them in the hospital, which category does that person fall into?
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Or if they are in the hospital for something that flared up because of the Covid infectionā¦
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That would most likely be my dadās situation if he were to contract COVID. There have been about 30 cases, staff and residents, at his facility over the past three weeks so Iām nervous. Almost 100% of everyone is vaccinated.
I think the issue becomes when there are people infected with Covid but they didnāt come in because of that, it becomes harder for the hospital staff to treat that person. Because they have to be isolated from the general population.
So even though not everyone is admitted because they have Covid, once they are admitted and found to have Covid, their treatment becomes more difficult requiring more staff needs.
Itās taking a complicated situation and making it more so.
Itās not just about who has Covid and their mortality. Itās about overburdened hospital and medical staffs
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Sadly vaccines arenāt 100%, not even with boosters. The friend of ours from our younger parenting days (our kids are the same age, so we did a bit together including traveling) just passed away from Covid, fully vaxxed and boostered, but he had diabetes. The last update we had had was he was doing better - oxygen level had increased from 87% to 97% on his vent so we were all hopeful - but alas, it didnāt last.
I really, really feel for those who draw the short straws even trying their best.
I donāt know which vaxxes or how long ago and donāt feel itās appropriate to ask at this point. I do know he continued working and going to church, Covid cases are abounding around here, and our local countyās vax rates are in the lower 50% ranges (two counties involved). He was just 59.
The person he caught it from could easily be going around spouting about how itās all overrated.
I definitely support vaccine mandates to try to protect everyone.
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Or they give it to the staffā¦
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Every medical professional that Iāve talked to has comes to terms with the fact that itās not if they contract Covid but when they will. They know itās only a matter of time or they have resigned themselves that not only will they get covid, that they might get it more than once.
Thatās why when people have the argument that not all hospitalized were admitted because of Covid but were found to have Covid after admitted, it feels so disingenuous to me. Because our hospital staff and your every day family practitioners are vaccinated but having to treat an invisible enemy. Over and over again, they are trying to treat their patients but are coming into contact with Covid positive patients that do not know they have it. Doesnāt make it any less of a problem.
But itās a great talking point for the media.
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The greater risk of diabetes is interesting. My S, who is in his late 20ās, had diabetes-like symptoms for months last year, and for various reasons we suspect he had asymptomatic Covid prior to his symptoms. He had excessive thirst and frequent urination, but his tests did not indicate diabetes. I wonder if he had had a genetic predisposition to diabetes, that genetic switch might have been flipped on.
Yes, just this afternoon my sonās psychiatrist told us he expects to get it at some point. He thinks half the population will have had it within the next couple of months. Ugh.
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Are you able to give more details on this? Iāve been wondering if it matters whether itās controlled diabetics (either via meds or diet) or if itās uncontrolled.
As far as I know it was Type II and controlled via meds. For obvious reasons, Iām not going to be asking his family any more questions right now. He was also a little overweight, but not a lot - not obese by BMI numbers.
One thing I noted in his obituary is two of his four siblings have died, one in 2019 and one in 2021. Both were in their 60s, but thatās still young (to me). The 2021 was in Jan, so Iām not sure if her death was Covid related or not, but the 2019 couldnāt have been. I didnāt hear about either as they happened because as our kids grew into adults we went our own way. Itās just had me wondering as I ponder what āelseā might have gone into getting the really short straw.
In the meantime, I just really feel for his family.
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And probably a fair part of the other half will have had it and not tested or known it. I think Iāve about given up here. Our two positive co-workers came back into the office yesterday and today after their 5 days. But, another one whose wife and mom (lives locally) are sick has been here sniffling and coughing. And so is the guy with whom he shares a work vehicle. And I heard another guy down the hall tested positive last week, but was asymptomatic and told to come to work. When he developed symptoms, he was told to put a mask on. Weāre going for the ignorance is bliss policy it seems.
OTOH, my department does apparently have a lot of people out with it and we have a big snowstorm coming our way. I pray I donāt get called in to work. I used to be required to work overnight dispatch, but was thankfully taken off years ago.
I think the point is that a portion of the people in the hospital being counted as covid patients are not sick enough to be in the hospital because of it and are there because of something else but found only because they tested positive. Thatās an important distinction when looking at severity. Itās disingenuous in many ways to let them be a āsevere caseā statistic.
As for hospital workers being exposed and catching covid, I think the vast majority of us are. Omicron is catching large numbers of people everywhere. There are many workers, in many situations, that have to work in-person and thus risk exposure. I see it in stories above and I see it at my own job. We all just canāt stop working and try to isolate forever. Iāve been close to co-workers that were positive or almost contagious at the time. Even those that arenāt working in-person are exposed when they go to the doctor, post office, Target, gas station, vacation, etc. Those that are ordering everything and trying their best to isolate are in the end exposing others when they order items, etc. People still need to manufacture or grow things, truck supplies, work in warehouses, stores, deliver things, etc. The world goes on.
I think itās ok to say that there are people in the hospital that are positive for Covid but not severely ill. That they were discovered by chance when testing. I think it is important to know the reality of these situations. Itās better to actually know there are perhaps more people in the hospital āwith covidā but X percent are not really severely ill because of it. Those statistics can lead to better decisions regarding these situations. Just like itās good to know the number of people in the general population who are positive but also know which percentage are severely ill. These numbers matter when making policy decisions. Knowing true severity is important.
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My office of less than 40 people has most of us working from home, but some people do come into the office each week for meetings or to work. I normally come in for half a day each week although I didnāt go in last week and I wonāt go in this week since I tested positive for Covid.
This morning we received an email from HR that an employee who was in the office Monday and Tuesday has tested positive. Just now I received a second email that another employee who was in the office Monday and Tuesday has tested positive. Omicron is definitely spiking in my area of Southern California.
While I understand your point, it doesnāt explain the influx of patients, young and old, overrunning hospital capacity. The number of asymptomatic patients should remain fairly constant; the crush and in hospitals is being driven by symptomatic covid severe enough to require hospitalization.
If the numbers are misleading regarding severity, this shows up between unvaccinated and vaccinated. The overwhelming number of severe cases are among the unvaccinated, and the overwhelming number of patients who are there for other reasons are vaccinated. This creates the false impression that vaccinated people have are relatively more likely to need hospitalization than is actually the case.
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Omicron is extremely contageous. Because of that exponentially more people are getting it and even though it is milder than many previous variants the shear number means more will end up at the hospital. Numbers of those being found at the hospital positive simply because of testing will also increase because of this exponential increase in cases.
As you alluded to actual statistics matter. Those in the hospital with severe illness because of Covid is different than those in the hospital for other reasons that happen to also test positive for Covid that arenāt necessarily severely ill or even symptomatic.
Yes, vaccinated vs unvaccinated statistics matter also. Those statistics should also be reported. Thatās the point, if youāre going to give numbers then tell all the little details that go with them. I think perhaps we can all agree about that.
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