Omicron has spread rapidly in Britain
and fuelled a spike in cases to record highs, though the variant is less severe
than previous ones, and high vaccination levels among adults have also helped
to limit the rise in hospitalisations. Children are less vulnerable than older
adults to COVID-19.
The study released on Friday, which was
shared with government advisers, found there had been an increased proportion
of young children admitted to hospital in the last four weeks, driven by babies
under one.
Of children hospitalised with COVID-19,
42% were under 1, compared to around 30% in previous waves, the early data
showed, though the researchers emphasised that the illnesses were mild.
"These are not particularly sick
infants. In fact, they're coming in for short periods of time," study
author Calum Semple, Professor in Child Health and Outbreak Medicine,
University of Liverpool, told reporters, adding that the proportion requiring
oxygen was falling.
The vaccination of over-12s might
explain some of the proportional fall in older children going to hospital,
Semple said, but it doesn't explain it all.
Russell Viner, Professor of Child and
Adolescent Health, UCL, said that the trend was likely in part because omicron symptoms
might resemble the sort of respiratory conditions that would encourage parents
to bring in babies to hospital as a precaution, whereas clinical pathways for
older children would not bring them to hospital with such mild symptoms.
He added that the data was very early
and could change.
"A very rapid review of clinical data
is extremely reassuring," Viner told reporters.