At least 3.03 million children in the U.S. tested positive for coronavirus since the pandemic took holds in he county last year, a new report finds.
In the past week nearly 100,000 kids were newly diagnosed with COVID-19, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) revealed.
Pediatric cases make up 13 percent of all infections in the US, which is a six-fold rise from mid-April when they accounted for just two percent.
Encouragingly, COVID-19 is still rarely deadly for children, with a mortality rate of just 0.01 percent.
But anecdotally, doctors are warning over a micro trend: they are seeing more critical cases of the life-threatening COVID-related inflammatory condition in children that can turn deadly.
As of February 11, at least 3.03 million children in the U.S have tested for coronavirus, making up 13% of all cases in the US
Between February 4 and February 11, 99,078 child COVID-19 cases were reported, which is an 8% jump from the previous two weeks
Wyoming has the highest percentage of cumulative child cases at 19.8% and North Dakota has the highest rate with about 8,400 cases per 100,000 children. Pictured: A child places his testing swab in the vial for pool testing at South Boston Catholic Academy in Boston, Massachusetts, January 2021
According to the report, the overall rate of pediatric coronavirus cases is 4,034 infections per 100,000 children in the population.
This is a 255 percent increase from October, when there were 1,134 infections per 100,000 children in the population.
Between February 4 and February 11, a total of 99,078 new child COVID-19 cases were reported.
The jump from 2,816,775 to 3,033,370 means there has been a eight percent over the last two weeks.
Currently, there are nine states that report 16 percent or more of their cumulative cases are among children: Alaska, , Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming.
Wyoming has the highest percentage of cumulative child cases with 19.8 percent of all the state's cases among its youngest residents.
Just three places in the US - Florida, New Jersey and New York City - have reported fewer than 10 percent of their cases are among kids.
Nine states report more than 6,00 cases per 100,000 children: Arkansas, Arizona, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
North Dakota has the highest rate with about 8,400 cases per 100,000 children
As of February 16, children made up no more than 2.9 percent of total reported hospitalizations.
The report says there have been 240 confirmed child fatalities from the virus with just eight states and the District of Columbia reporting no pediatric deaths.
'At this time, it appears that severe illness due to COVID-19 is rare among children,' the report reads.
'However, there is an urgent need to collect more data on longer-term impacts of the pandemic on children, including ways the virus may harm the long-term physical health of infected children, as well as its emotional and mental health effects.'
Nine states report more than 6,00 cases per 100,000 children: Arkansas, Arizona, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Wyoming
The reports comes on the heels of doctors across the U.S. reporting an increase in the number of young people with Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, or MIS-C.
MIS-C is a condition, in which different body parts can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs.
The condition is still rare, with just 2,060 cases in 48 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia and 30 deaths.
However, according to The New York Times, children with MIS-C are sicker than they were during the first wave of case.
'We really don't know what will happen in the long term,' Dr Jean Ballweg, the medical director of pediatric heart transplant and advanced heart failure at Children's Hospital & Medical Center in Omaha, told The Times.
Children's Hospital & Medical Center about two cases of MIS-C per month from April through October with about 30 percent winding up in the intensive care unit (ICU).
However, the hospital treated 10 cases in December and 12 in January, with 60 percent overall needing care in the ICU.
Ballweg told The Times that, early on in the pandemic, most cases of MIS-C were among Latino or black children.
However, now, her hospital 'is seeing a much more broad spectrum and every ethnicity.'
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