Black, Hispanic Children Face Higher Risk For Severe COVID-19 Hospitalization, Study Finds

Infectious Disease Advisor (8/15, Basilio) reported a study found that “Black and Hispanic children are disproportionately more likely to experience severe COVID-19 hospitalization compared with White and Asian or Pacific Islander children.” The research team included a total of 13,555 pediatric COVID-19-associated hospitalizations in the final analysis, with children of Black (28.3%) or Hispanic (30.5%) race accounting “for 58.8% of included cases while representing 40.3% of the catchment population. Overall hospitalization rates were 2.15-fold and 2.06-fold higher among Black and Hispanic children, respectively, when compared with Asian or Pacific Islander children.” In addition, “cumulative hospitalization rates (per 100,000 population) among patients aged 4 years and younger were 1.64-times and 1.74-times greater among Black and Hispanic children, respectively, when compared with Asian or Pacific Islander children.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.