Almost thirty children with Covid admitted to ICU since March 2020 - HPSC

Fewer than thirty Covid-positive children aged 14 years or under have been admitted to ICU in over a year and a half. 

That's according to a recent report from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), which found 27 children with Covid were admitted between March 2020 and November 2021. 

The report reveals there were two admissions in wave one (March 1 2020 to August 1 2020), three in wave two (August 2 2020 to November 21 2020), ten in wave three (November 22 2020 to June 26 2021) and twelve to date in wave four (June 27 2021 to November 30 2021). 

In a profile of ICU admissions covering the period, 63% of Covid-positive children were male and 37% were female, with the average age of admission marked as 6 years old. 

Twelve children (which accounts for 44% of admissions) were aged 0-4 years, while ten (or 37%) were aged between 10-14. Five (or 19%) were 5-9 years old. 

Of note, 44% were reported as having an underlying medical condition, while a significant 56% did not. 

According to the report, 30% of children admitted received conventional mechanical ventilation during the course of their stay in ICU. 

However, no child admitted to ICU was reported to have died, with the average length of stay marked as 9 days.