How problematic are Covid variants for children? Elizabeth Tracey reports

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As the Covid pandemic rages on, more younger people are becoming infected, and more variants are being reported. Aaron Milstone, a pediatric infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins, is concerned that children might begin experiencing infections more commonly as a result.

Milstone: We’ll learn more about whether kids will be disproportionately affected by this UK variant, and the severity in kids, but our early experience over the last month or so is we’re definitely seeing kids hospitalized in this area with Covid, both acute Covid and complications of Covid, and we now know that the B117 variant is the most common variant in this area. So putting those together I am concerned that this new variant is going to have a bigger impact on pediatrics.  :30

Milstone reminds everyone that keeping up with masks and other strategies must continue until a vaccine for kids is available, since the development of variants is a consequence of new infections. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.