According to the American Society ….

According to the American Society for Microbiology, the existing COVID-19 vaccines are largely effective against the Delta variant.

IS THE RISK AND TREATMENT FOR CHILDREN DIFFERENT?

Kalispell pediatric hospitalist Courtney Paterson said that while it’s true children generally don’t get as sick as adults when they get COVID-19, they can still “get pretty sick.” She’s cared for a range of young coronavirus patients from newborns with fevers to teenagers who have ended up in the ICU on ventilators and multiple medications. It may be less common, she said, but it’s “certainly possible.”

“The biggest thing is that when kids are critically ill like that, they truly need a dedicated pediatric space,” said Paterson, who also serves on the Montana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ executive committee. “And so this isn’t as simple as if a 12 year old gets critically ill, we’ll just put them in the adult ICU with all the other adult COVID patients. That’s really not our best practice of care.”

Paterson explained that treating a child with COVID-19 requires a dedicated pediatric team, and specialized strategies to help make them more comfortable. At Logan Health, she said, that has included allowing parents to be at their child’s bedside and staff wearing badges displaying their faces without personal protective equipment. Windows in pediatric spaces have also allowed health care workers to interact with young patients safely while their faces are uncovered.

“When we’re outside the room with our PPE off, we can actually play games through the glass so that they know what we look like without all that stuff on,” Paterson said. “It is a process to constantly reassure patients they’re in a safe place so that we try to alleviate anxiety.”

One specific COVID-19 associated issue that health care workers have to be on the lookout for with pediatric patients is multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C. As the COVID-19 infection begins to wane, Paterson said, a child’s immune system can become confused and begin attacking the body instead of the virus. That can result in ongoing fever, stomach pains, vomiting and skin rash. It’s rare, Paterson added, but it’s where hospitals have seen the most morbidity among children from COVID-19.

“We had quite a few kids here in Kalispell in the last year that have come in with that and needed ICU-level support because their body is so inflamed [that] it’s attacking all of their organs, that they need critical care to be able to get through that,” she said.

I HAVE MORE QUESTIONS. WHO SHOULD I TALK TO?

Unanimously, everyone interviewed for this story agreed you should consult your primary care physician. And if you don’t have one, they recommend you get one.

“You start with your provider,” Byrd said. “Don’t go to Google, don’t go to Snapchat, don’t go to Facebook.”