More than 14.7 million children in the United States have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Hospital Association for children.
More than 289,000 of these cases have been added in the past four weeks. About 6.85 million reported cases were added in 2022, according to the report released on Tuesday.
For the seven days ending September 22, COVID-19 cases in children accounted for 16.9% of all infections reported in the United States. But the number of reported cases is likely “substantially lower” than the actual number of COVID-19 cases, the report said.
More age-specific data is needed to assess disease severity related to new variants as well as potential longer-term effects, the AAP said.
“It is important to recognize that the pandemic is having immediate effects on the health of children, but above all we need to identify and address the long-term impacts on the physical, mental and social well-being of this generation of children and young people. “, underlined the AAP.