CDC: Infection Rate Among Children Rose ‘Steadily’ From March To July

The Washington Post: Infections Are Rising In Children, CDC Says 
The number and rate of coronavirus cases in children have risen since the pandemic took hold in the spring, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in recently updated guidance, underscoring the risk for young people and their families as the school year begins. According to the CDC, the infection rate in children 17 and under increased “steadily” from March to July. While the virus is far more prevalent and severe among adults, the true incidence of infection in American children remains unknown because of a lack of widespread testing, the agency said. (Hawkins and Iati, 8/16)

The New York Times: Older Children And The Coronavirus: A New Wrinkle In The Debate 
A study by researchers in South Korea last month suggested that children between the ages of 10 and 19 spread the coronavirus more frequently than adults — a widely reported finding that influenced the debate about the risks of reopening schools. But additional data from the research team now calls that conclusion into question; it’s not clear who was infecting whom. The incident underscores the need to consider the preponderance of evidence, rather than any single study, when making decisions about children’s health or education, scientists said. (Mandavilli, 8/14)

In other pediatric developments —

The Hill: CDC: Children And Teens Are Eating More Fast Food 
A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that children and teenagers are eating more fast food than in previous years. The report showed that young people received 13.8 percent of their daily calories from fast food between 2015 and 2018, up from 12.4 percent from 2011 to 2012. The data noted adolescents between the ages of 12 to 19 consumed a higher percentage of fast food calories compared to children ages 2 to 11. (Deese, 8/14)

The Washington Post: Child's Migraine Can Be Hard To Figure Out 
Of all the memories that linger from my childhood, the most vivid are those that correlate with a migraine headache. Vomiting in the school bathroom. Lectured by a well-intentioned but ignorant principal to suck it up and play through the pain. Resting my aching head on the cold tile floor of my second-grade classroom as I wait for my mother to pick me up from school. Leaving a friend’s slumber party early, in tears. You’d think that after 40 years of migraines I’d be an expert in diagnosing the illness in others. But when my own son began complaining of headaches a couple of years ago at age 5, I didn’t know how to address it. All he could tell me was that his head hurt. He wasn’t sobbing or vomiting, as I did as a child, so I wasn’t sure of the best plan of action. Was he in the throes of a migraine attack? (Ebejer, 8/16)

In pregnancy news —

CIDRAP: Review Of 11,000 COVID-19 Pregnancies Shows Generally Good Outcomes
A study reviewing 11,308 published cases of COVID-19 in pregnancy showed that outcomes were generally favorable, though 21% of cases that included such information showed severe or critical outcomes. The study was published yesterday in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.Overall, mortality rates were reassuring, and neonatal disease was rare: Only 41 possible cases of neonatal infection were reported in the literature, the authors said. Ninety-eight percent of women (10,437 of 10,597) survived to delivery or hospital discharge, and 33 maternal deaths were noted. (8/14)

The Washington Post: Pregnant Latina Women With Covid-19: Staggering Numbers Show Virus’s Spread 
Each time she holds her newborn twins, the mother sees the inch-wide wound on her right arm marking the place where doctors lodged tubes into her body to keep her alive. More than two months have passed since Ana returned from the D.C. hospital to meet her new daughters for the first time, since she woke up from a deep sedation to learn that she had been intubated for the first three weeks of the infants’ lives, battling complications from covid-19. (Schmidt and Tan, 8/16)

NBC News: Pregnant In A Pandemic: How COVID-19 Stress May Affect Growing Babies
Alisha Bradshaw doesn't know what it's like to be pregnant without the added worry of a global health crisis. She had her first child, a healthy baby girl, during the summer of 2016, when a single mosquito bite could mean transmission of Zika — a virus known to cause devastating birth defects. Four years later, Bradshaw, 44, of Brandywine, Maryland, was pregnant with her second child. This time, it was during the COVID-19 pandemic. While a can of insect repellent gave her a measure of control to protect against Zika, the coronavirus left her feeling particularly vulnerable. (Edwards, 8/16)