HJNO Sep/Oct 2021

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS  I  SEP / OCT 2021 41 ing the same constraints. Unless we turn back the COVID-19 tide, it is only a mat- ter of time before children will have to be turned away from the facilities where they are most likely to receive lifesaving care. It is no accident that Louisiana current- ly is an epicenter for the delta variant of COVID-19. This is largely a pandemic of the unvaccinated, and Louisiana’s vacci- nation rate places it near the bottom na- tionally. Sadly, it appears that children are becoming collateral damage of the refusal by many Louisianans to take any of the safe and highly effective COVID-19 vac- cines that have been available for months. Children under the age of 12 years are not yet eligible for vaccination, and the rate of vaccination among adolescents 12 years of age or older is just 12%, but there is so much adults can do to insulate and protect children from this pandemic, just by get- ting vaccinated. We are not powerless against the delta variant of COVID-19. Vaccination ulti- mately will rescue us from future surges caused by new variants. In the meantime, social distancing, meticulous hand hy- giene and masking can help to blunt trans- mission of the virus. New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell and Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards are to be congratulated for having the courage to issue mask man- dates to protect our children and other vulnerable Louisianans. These measures Mark W. Kline, MD Physician-in-Chief and Chief Academic Officer Children’s Hospital New Orleans THE DELTA VARIANT OF COVID-19 is an infectious disease specialist’s nightmare. Never in our lifetimes have Americans en- countered an epidemic virus that is both as contagious and virulent as COVID-19. Delta hit with a vengeance in July of this year. Within weeks, it accounted for well over 80% of all new U.S. COVID-19 cas- es, and the average daily case count in- creased from about 10,000 to more than 60,000. Hospitalizations increased by 30- 40% per week. In Louisiana, the delta variant accounts for more than 90% of new COVID-19 in- fections, and about 20% of cases are oc- curring in children and adolescents less than 17 years of age. Beginning in July, Children’s Hospital New Orleans experi- enced a surge of pediatric COVID-19 cases unlike anything we had observed previ- ously. The daily census of children admit- ted to the hospital for COVID-19 has been as high as 20, with as many as five of those children in our intensive care units at any given time. Ranging in age from infancy to adolescence, several children have been seriously or critically ill, requiring me- chanical ventilation. One child has died. Coinciding with an epidemic of another respiratory virus, respiratory syncytial vi- rus (RSV), these cases have severely taxed our ability to provide care to other serious- ly or critically ill children. Other children’s hospitals across the South are experienc- are more important than ever. Influenza season is just around the cor- ner and likely will be severe, both because last year’s season was the lightest on re- cord and because vaccine fatigue may lead many to forgo influenza vaccination. A strong push now to vaccinate more eligible adults and adolescents against COVID-19 could help to blunt COVID-19 case counts and prevent our overburdened hospitals from hitting a breaking point. Young children are not able to advocate for themselves. They depend on adults to protect their health and well-being. Too many in our society have decided that preservation of their own health is not reason enough to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Now that children are falling seriously ill in greater numbers, will these individuals recalculate the risks and ben- efits and conclude that vaccination is the morally correct path to take? For the sake of the children, we certainly hope so. n Mark Kline, MD, is physician-in-chief and chief aca- demic officer at Children’s Hospital NewOrleans, as well as professor of pediatrics at Tulane University School of Medicine and clinical professor of pedi- atrics at LSU Health Sciences Center. A pediatric infectious disease specialist by training,Kline founded an international pediatric HIV/AIDS program called Baylor International PediatricAIDS Initiative (BIPAI), which builds healthcare infrastructure, trains health professionals and provides medical care and treat- ment to children and families across sub-Saharan Africa and in Romania. One year ago, we thought children would be spared the ravages of COVID-19. Over the first year of the pandemic in the U.S., fewer than 6% of COVID-19 cases occurred among children, and most produced only minor symptoms. Unfortunately, the delta variant of COVID-19 has been a gamechanger, disabusing us of the notion that children could escape this pandemic.