The United States' Disease Control Agency (CDC) said it had not seen any signal that the Omicron variant of Covid-19 had a more severe impact on children, despite an increase in the number of hospitalizations. "We haven't seen any signal that there is an increase in severity in children younger than 5 years, who are not yet eligible for vaccination," said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, However, parents still have to be on guard so that their children don't get infected. Along with the discovery of Covid 19 cases due to the Omicron variant in various countries, parents can take a number of steps to prevent their children from being exposed to Covid 19. Dr. Allison Messina, chief of infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Dr. Sarah Ash Combs, of the Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, provides five tips for preventing children from developing the Omicron variant.
1.Vaccination
Severe Covid-19 conditions, including the omicron variant, remain rare among children. But health experts say young people are not immune from the virus, or from severe illness and death.
“I have personally seen many previously healthy children contracting COVID-19. I think as a parent, you want to do whatever you can to prevent your child from being in that situation," said Ash Combs
With the arrival of the Omicron variant, health experts say the increase in the number of cases and hospitalizations among children is not due to the variant striking them but more likely due to the fact most children under the age of 18 are still not vaccinated. On the other hand, Messina worries that researchers don't yet know whether Omicron itself causes milder symptoms or if it could be milder because they were vaccinated against Covid-19.
"What I'm concerned about is that children are relatively unvaccinated. Children generally don't have the basic immunity that adults have," he said.
Both Messina and Ash Combs agree that the first thing parents can do to protect their children from Covid-19 is to give them vaccines and ensure adults who interact with children are also vaccinated including booster shots.
2. Keep the mask on
As the spread of Omicron and Covid-19 cases continue to rise, Messina and Ash Combs said everyone should wear a mask when in public, especially indoors such as shops.
"I would tell parents, yes, to go back to what you were used to before, like wearing a mask," says Ash Combs.
He advised children to also wear masks to school, whether vaccinated or not, because they provide multi-level protection. In addition, following health protocols such as washing hands and keeping a distance is also important.
3. If in doubt, assume Covid-19
Many of the symptoms of Omicron include a sore throat, runny nose, fever and cough that are very similar to the flu and the common cold. As a result, the only way to truly diagnose your child is to get tested for Covid-19.
"To be completely safe, testing is key," said Ash Combs.
If parents are unsure whether their child has Covid-19 or a cold, for example, Ash Combs says to assume it is Covid-19 and follow health protocols such as those from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding isolation.
4. Reduce large gatherings
If your family is hanging out with people outside your household, the best protection is to make sure everyone in contact with your family has been vaccinated. Messina said families should also consider reducing their social activities. He suggests that you be a little more careful.
"At a time like this with Omicron coming in, when we're seeing so many cases now and we may really not have peaked yet, it's time to pay more attention to limiting the timing of large gatherings, at least until the number of cases starts to decline," he said.
Then, whether parents decide to let their child go out to play or hang out with friends can also depend on their age. Ash Combs notes that older, vaccinated children can have more flexibility to be together. As with so much that has happened during a pandemic, Ash Combs said circumstances can change and parents must adapt.
"Every situation will change, so reassess day by day, week by week," he said.
5. Keep clean, don't stress
Since the start of the pandemic, many people have cleaned up everything that has to do with children, but experts say now that we know more about the virus, parents don't need to be under stress.
"We know Covid-19 is not transmitted very well by what we call fomites, the inanimate objects you touch. I don't think we need to panic like we did in the early days with groceries and mail," said Ash Combs. .
Health experts say it's always a good idea to teach children good hand hygiene, including frequent hand washing for at least 20 seconds. According to Ash Combs, one age group that parents should watch out for is toddlers and babies who may put toys in their mouths. This is why he recommends being more careful with gatherings of children at that age.
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